Batman & Command and Conquer: Red Gotham
by Darth Yoshi
Summary: In another world, Batman must retake Gotham City from a Soviet mutant named Yuri
1. Chapter 1

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 1**

He kept running, leaping over the burned out hulks of automobiles and racing past the multitude of corpses that now littered the streets of Bludhaven. He had come to this town years before and had sworn to protect it from all enemies, just as he had been taught. In Gotham City, just down the river, he had cut his teeth in the super-hero game as Robin, the junior partner to Batman.

But Gotham City could not handle both of them once he had reached adulthood and so the boy that had become a man changed his name to Nightwing and went somewhere else to roost. He had actually started making a difference, he was sure, because it seemed that the crime rate was finaly going down. 

Then the war started and all of his efforts were moot. The Soviet invaders did not distinguish between criminal and hero, civilian and combatant. Overnight it seemed that they had established one of their bases just outside the city limits and when the Bludhaven police tried to investigate, they had been cut down by the conscripted troops imported from Mother Russia. 

The army never arrived because they were too busy fighting in other cities all around the country. Even America's allies had been attacked as the massive blanket of the Soviet war machine tried to cover the globe. The Justice League, led by Superman, had gone to Moscow and never returned. The rumors were that a new Soviet weapon, called the Iron Curtain, had been used on him. Other said that stolen American chronal technology had simply wiped the Man of Steel from existence.

Nightwing didn't really know and at that moment, did not really care. He had been waging a non-stop guerilla war against the invaders for months, living by hope and prayers mostly. His once robust physique was scarred from battles with guard dogs and one particularly close strike by a Tesla coil defense system. As it stood, he would probably never been in the shape he had been before the war ever again.

The slight limp he had, the result of a savage dog bite he had not treated properly, was slowing him down he could tell. Two years before, he would have lost his pursuers by simply going up high to the rooftops, where the hero had once been master of the sky. 

"We almost have him," one soldier called out in Russian. Nightwing was trained in over twelve languages. "Be ready to spring the trap!"

It was his command of the Russian language that had so far kept Nightwing from capture and internment in a re-education camp. Because the Second Soviet War was spread out all over the country, he had been unable to turn to any of hero friends that were still alive. There was simply too much going on.

Nightwing turned a corner and then jumped into a shadowed doorway. Two conscripts, dressed in the thick, heavy uniforms of the Soviet military ran by, both of them brandishing AK-47's. Nightwing stepped out behind them and drew out two of his last three shuriken. The urge to use them lethally was almost overwhelming, but then he remembered that it was unwillingness to kill that separated him from the conquerors. 

Two tosses and both soldiers went down with wounds behind the kneecaps. They cried out but that was all. It would take a few minutes for them to get help and that would be enough time for him to get to one of his secret hideaways. He needed to contact Batman and get into Gotham City. He hated to admit it, but Bludhaven was a lost cause.

The younger sister city to Gotham, Bludhaven never enjoyed the urban mystique that was attached to the home of Batman. Instead, Bludhaven was mostly referred to as what you shouldn't do with a major metropolitan area. Crime and corruption had been rampant in Bludhaven since the Civil War. It was a town that most women were introduced to sex through rape and men learned about drugs before they hit puberty. Nobody, especially President Luthor Nightwing was sure, was willing to expend Allied soldier lives liberating a city that was nothing more than an annex of hell.

Nightwing cut through some alleyways, staying away from the main streets. His stomach rumbled slightly and he realized it had been nearly four days since he last ate. The pickings were getting very slim since the main troops had pulled out of the city to be replaced by mechanized forces. The tanks and such were pretty easy to avoid, though the hero did think he saw a couple of _Apocalypse_ MBT's parked on his old street. Twin-cannoned and remarkably resilient, Nightwing had been forced to choose between fighting another day and walking into an ambush. 

It was no secret that General Vladimir, Premier Romanov's military leader in U.S operations, had a special hatred for any super-hero, freak or mutant. The word was it simmered from a power struggle between Vladimir, a career officer, and Yuri, a metahuman that served as Romanov's primary advisor. Yuri was a telepath and he had helped perfect the technology that allowed clones of himself to wander through streets of America cities, overtaking the minds of innocent people and forcing them to do whatever the Yuri-Clones wished.

Nightwing turned a corner and stopped as floodlights came on, blinding him. Had he been properly rested and fed and not so damaged, he would have hopped back into the shadows and slinked away. He saw someone approaching him, a skinny half-naked man with a chilling laugh.

_Crazy Ivan_! Nightwing threw the last shuriken and took the mad bomber out with a groin strike. The man exploded as his dynamite charge went off. Nightwing shieled his face from the debris and said a silent prayer for the man. It was unfortunate and he had not meant for it to happen, but the men picked to be a Crazy Ivan were normally looking for any excuse to blow themselves up. Nightwing had gotten over feeling remorse about them a long time ago.

A dog jumped at him and got a good grip on his arm. The animal bit down hard and Nightwing felt the blood starting to pour out of his arm and soak his thread-bare costume. Again, had this been two years earlier when he still had a Kevlar-weave uniform, he could have shaken the beast off without problem.

The dog's attack had him off balance and it made him and easy target for the slowly approaching Tesla Troopers. Three of them, clad in large insulated suits, stalked towards the hero as he fought with the dog. Nightwing did not have the strength to resist and with that realization came clarity. One of the Tesla Troopers fired his weapon and an electrical arc caught Nightwing in the shoulder.

He cried out, more out of a need to let Heaven know he was coming than in actual pain. He went over his life briefly and decided that despite the bad times and tragedy, it had been a good one to live. The dog, shaken by the electrical attack, slinked off with its tail between its legs and Nightwing found himself looking at three pairs of metallic boots.

"I see you have met Comrades Alexander, Nicholas and Sebastian, as well as poor Comrade Lassie," a voice said. It was voice of the dead, rough and hoarse with a thick Russian accent. A new pair of boots came into Nightwing's vision; brown and highly polished, the boots of an officer.

Nightwing rolled over and was shocked to see the bulging blue eyes of Yuri staring back at him. He was dressed in his formal brown and red Soviet uniform and had his bald head wrapped with the metal amplifier that strengthened his already-impressive powers. "I see that you are surprised, my friend, but you should not be. You have led our forces on a merry chase for many months now."

Yuri started to walked around Nightwing and one of the Tesla Trooper put a heavy boot on the hero's chest to keep him from moving or attacking. "You are to be commended; if the rest of the heroes of your Justice League had been so difficult to deal with, then perhaps America would have won this war. As it is, you caused a certain amount of embarrassment to the officer in charge of securing Bludhaven." Yuri stopped and put his hands behind his back and scowled, the small tattoo on his forehead wrinkling with his brow. Nightwing did not recognize it. 

"I'm sorry to have been a bother," Nightwing shot back. He felt his arm getting cold and realized that the dog had bitten much deeper than he had first imagined. 

"Oh, it is no bother at all," Yuri said with a devil-may-care smile. "You see, you provided me a convenient excuse to come here, otherwise the Premier would never have allowed me to interfere with Vladimir's operations." Yuri's smile told Nightwing that he wasn't being told the truth. Then it dawned on the hero; Yuri was a telepath! He was controlling Premier Romanov!

Nightwing felt Yuri's powerful mind stab at his own will and the need to announce his revelation to the world simply faded away. His mind was still his own, but Yuri was going through it and picking out items seemingly at random and tossing them away. "I will take away all of the memories that give you pain if you willingly join with me. There, your parent's deaths is now unknown to you…"

Nightwing screamed in rage. He could no longer remember his parents at all or the circumstances surrounding their murders. He knew it had happened because it was the reason why Bruce Wayne had taken him in when he was a young boy. It was the reason he had wanted to become Batman's partner.

"And there, I have removed the heartache from your failed relationship with Batgirl," Yuri announced even as Nightwing cursed at him. The hero was starting to cry. It was one thing to accept death, it was something else entirely to have your life stripped away. 

"It makes you angry, I know, but if you surrender…"

"Go spit!"

Yuri pursed his lips and then gave a curt nod. "I respect your choice but am also amused by your foolishness." He stepped back and a large man stepped forward. He wore the uniform of the Soviet special forces. His face was familiar, but the thick black beard, typical of Russian officers, blurred most of his features. "I would like you to meet Comrade William, an expert on inflicting pain. He will be the one to send you to the afterlife; consider it an honor."

Comrade William looked down at the prone and bleeding Nightwing and smiled. He had perfect teeth, too perfect and when Nightwing realized exactly who this person was and what they were going to do to him, he was already dead.

"Comrade General," Yuri started as he faced the video monitor within his private quarters. Outside he could here the soldiers training around the barracks. The man he was talking to, General Vladimir's military rival, was in the field, moving his forces towards Keystone City. "You performed well in Midway City, my compliments to you."

The General nodded his head. "All in the service of Mother Russia."

"Indeed, comrade," Yuri remarked. The General was fast becoming a Hero of the People with his swift victories against the Allies. Soon it would be time for Yuri to decide whom he wanted to have as an ally, this man or Vladimir, when he made his bid for power. "I will be unavailable for our weekly conference for the next month or so, I have a rabbit to skin in Gotham City."

The General seemed intrigued but did not question. Yuri admired the man for being able to hold back his own curiosity. "Gotham City is the home of the Batman, one of the last hold-outs from the Justice League. So long as one America super-hero remains alive, then they serve as a beacon of hope for the people. They must be made to see that the way of the costumed vigilante is not the path to social equality."

Nodding, the General remarked that Yuri had been very successful so far in his personal campaign to destroy the American heroes and that he had no doubt a statue of the telepath would soon be erected in Red Square. "You are very perceptive and shrewd, Comrade General, and I will not forget you when I next speak to our Premier. Now, while General Vladimir deals with the Allied counter-attack in Chicago, you will deal the Americans a blow by capturing President Luthor in Keystone City. I will provide you with several of my Yuri-clones to assist you in this endeavor."

Yuri continued his briefing with the young officer for another fifteen minutes before wishing him luck. It was an honest enough send-off as Yuri did see the benefit of capturing Luthor alive. Still, he reasoned with a shrug, if Luthor died, then Vice-President Dugan would take over and the conquest of the United States would go along much easier. The problem with Luthor was despite all of the baby-kissing and promises of making America "great" again, he was as power-hungry as Yuri.

There was knock at his door and Yuri swiveled his chair to face the person coming in. It was a young female captain, dressed in the tight-fitting leather uniform of the communications sector. He eyed her hungrily and could feel her unease being in his presence. He wished he had the liaison that the General used; she was efficient and afraid of nothing. "Yes?" he asked.

"Comrade Yuri, our field agents report success in placing the Psychic Beacons throughout Gotham City. They estimate it is only a matter time before this Batman falls under our control," she reported. She pushed back a lock of blonde hair just before Yuri possessed her mind. 

"You desire what I command," he whispered.

"Must serve Yuri," she said, staring blankly into space. He wondered if maybe he should leave just a hint of their encounters at the back of her mind, just so he could watch her nervousness whenever he was around.

He chuckled and then directed her into the sleeping area of his quarters, all the time filling her mind with his depravity.


	2. Chapter 2

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 2**

"Commander, we have ourselves a situation that just makes me want to spit," General Carver said as he chomped down on his customary cigar. The military officer he addressed, who was several thousand miles away in an Allied base just outside London, simply smiled. Carver was his superior, his mentor and above all else, his friend. He couldn't imagine a day going by that the Texas native did not call him up on the videophone to complain about something new the Reds had done.

The war had been, so far, going very badly for the Allies, especially the United States. The years between the first Soviet War and the second one had caused the Allies to get soft. Technology, especially military, had stagnated in the mid-1980's when it appeared the Soviets were willing to see change. They elected a new Premier, a direct descendant of the Romanov's and had begun to build a new friendship with their former enemies.

In fact, so trusting had the world become that nobody bothered to check to see if the Soviets had even bothered to disarm. "How is Canada, sir?" the Commander asked with a sly grin.

Carver took a sip from his coffee mug and wrinkled his brow. Behind him was a wall of what looked to be a log cabin. Outside one of the windows were some very beautiful, snow-covered mountains. "Less jokes and more action would be appreciated, Commander. If you think I enjoy spending my free time in…this country…then you obviously have been out in the field too long."

The Commander didn't immediately respond. He glanced over to a secondary monitor that presented an electronic, 3D environment of his current area of responsibility, which included the great city of London. Using a mouse, he picked the local barracks and put in an order for five troops that he planned to send to a scouting location. "I'm assuming that I'm going to be recalled to the States then, sir?" the Commander asked, hopeful.

"Damn right, you are," carver said as he stomped back to his desk. The poor cameraman on his end struggled to keep up with him and the picture jumped and jiggled. "Special Agent Tanya is already on her way to the mission area," the general said with a smile. Tanya was the most professional, and most beautiful, agent in the Allied special services. She had been instrumental in many of the major Allied victories of recent months and she and the Commander had grown rather close. 

"Where am I being assigned to, sir?"

Carver pulled the cigar out of his mouth and pointed it at the camera. "Gotham City in New England. New York is still too well defended, but we think we can take Gotham back. It has a lot of guerilla activity…"

"Not that story about the Batman?" The Commander next checked on the production of Infantry Fighting Vehicles at the nearest war factory and the readout told him that the facility had been damaged in a recent air raid. He quickly assigned some engineers to head over and check it out. "The super-heroes are gone, killed by Yuri when they invaded Moscow."

"Batman wasn't with them," Carver pointed out. "Only member of the League that refused to go. President Luthor says the Batman was a raving paranoid and wanted to stay back to see what happened." The older man chuckled with the warm laugh that made him seem, if only for a moment, like a kindly grandfather. "The truth is that Batman has a movement started and we're gonna go in and give him support."

The Commander accepted his fate and concentrated instead on the upcoming mission. "You said Tanya was already in the area?"

"Concerned about your little filly?" The general began laughing again. It seemed to the Commander that a sure-fire way to get Carver forget about being in Canada was to let him ride the ass of his subordinates. "Yes, Commander, she's in there, making contact with our alternate source in Gotham City. The Lieutenant will bring you up to speed on the situation. Consider yourself relieved of your current command."

The screen winked out and the Commander looked up to see two Guardian G.I.'s with an officer. The G.I.'s, soldiers trained specifically in anti-vehicle operations and were normally burly men with RPG launchers strapped across their backs. The officer was wearing the uniform of the French Free Forces, one of the many Allied components.

"I am here to relieve you, Commander," the officer said, his English heavily accented. The G.I.'s said nothing; they were not there to intimidate but were merely standard bodyguards for command personnel. The Commander checked his status board and sighed. 

"Try not to surrender England, okay?" the Commander said as he got up and surrendered the command chair. The French officer opened his mouth to say something, but the Commander was already walking out of the room, his own personal SEAL bodyguard behind him.

"You shouldn't make fun of the French, sir," Petty Officer Smith said as they hopped into the IFV. The model had been set-up as a heavy-machine gun platform. IFV's were the workhorses of the Allied military. Originally developed for the United States army, they were now found in all Allied countries. They had replaced the Humvee as the vehicle of choice.

"They're the only ones who won't fight back when I do," the Commander said as he squeezed into the back. Smith took the controls and the Commander manned the weapon. Even in friendly territory they were required to be vigilant. Soviet spies were everywhere and they would not hesitate to take out any target of opportunity.

They left the base proper, speeding by the pillboxes and Patriot missile launchers that served as outer perimeter defenses and got onto the main road that would take them to the airport at the other end of the base. Most Allied bases contained the same basic equipment and structures, but the layout was usually left to the base commander.

Prefabrication was the secret to quick and successful base building; that and the harvest of raw minerals and materials. Every base on every continent be it Allied or Soviet, relied on a massive mining effort that virtually laid the surrounding areas bare. As the materials were removed, it left space for even more buildings. The problem was, as the more liberal free persons of the world stated constantly, that military installations were intruding into any and all habitats. Cities were being overrun, as were forests and wildlife refuges as both sides armed to the teeth.

In some cases, such as Chicago, weapons of mass destruction were being fabricated as well. The Soviets were starting to show a fondness for nuclear weapons, a technology officially outlawed by the Allies at the beginning of the war. 

The Commander glanced at the chronometer on his instrument panel and saw that by the time he made it across the Atlantic Ocean, it would be late at night. No doubt General Carver had planned it that way since the Batman was rumored only to come out at night. 

They passed by a collection of regular grunts packing sandbags to create a defensive perimeter around the new battle lab that had been constructed the week before. Flying overhead, a flight of Harriers announced they were quickly approaching the airport. In little over a minute they were out of the IFV and approaching a special two-seater with extra fuel tanks.

"I'm gonna miss England, sir," Smith said as he pulled on his pressure suit. "Kind of like it here. Might retire here once the fighting is done." Smith zipped up his suit and then looked back towards the main part of the base. "Aw, hell, we left the French in charge."

"Good evening, Commander," the Lieutenant said on the video screen. She was an attractive brunette that had been working with the Commander since the beginning of the war. Her actual rank was much higher than her title indicated, but like him, she went by her code-name in order to throw off the Soviets.

Had there been no war, it was quite possible that the Commander and his pretty assistant could have seen each other socially. As it was, there was a friendly rivalry between her and Agent Tanya, but everyone knew where the Commander's heart lay. "What's the sitrep?" he asked. Behind him, Petty Officer Smith snoozed quietly.

A grid map of the eastern United States replaced the Lieutenant. It was color-coded with both red and blue. The red indicated territory under the control of Soviet forces. Their advance started in Florida, where they had invaded Miami from a secret base in Cuba and extended up the coast all the way to New York City. Because the Canadians had declared neutrality at the beginning of the war, the Soviets had so far agreed not to prosecute a conflict with them. 

The map then revolved and then zoomed in on a pair of cities located south of New York. The Commander knew immediately that they were Bludhaven and Gotham City. "I'll have a more detailed map of the area once you're on the ground," she explained. The scene changed to a general overview of Gotham City, the harbor taking up most of the lower right-hand corner.

"This will do for now," the Commander said. He glanced out over to his right and saw the lights of the Allied Fifth Fleet below him. He had found out it was on its way to Spain to counter a surprise Iraqi invasion. Iraq, Libya and Cuba were the official partners of the Soviet Union. 

"Gotham City is a primary port city on the east coast, but it is also the one city that the Soviets have the least control over. Guerilla efforts on behalf of several patriot groups have constantly harassed the Reds since the start of the war. Rumor is that Yuri himself has been sent into the area to quiet things down once and for all. Chances are your counterpart within the Soviet military is being brought in as well, but we have nothing to confirm that." The map shifted to a wider view. There was a small red circle on an area indicated as Wayne Estate.

"This is the suspected area of operations for the Batman, whom we have discovered from secret Justice League records was actually billionaire Bruce Wayne. The Soviets have so far kept minimal troop activity out there." 

The Commander absorbed the rest of the information as it was given to him all the while keeping a light hand on the control stick. He still had an hour to go before he hit Canadian airspace and then he would have to stop and refuel before riding low to the ground for the trip into Soviet territory. 

"Where's Tanya?" the Commander finally asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

The Lieutenant got a wry grin and the Commander knew she was considering letting him believe that there was no information. Finally, she relented and answered him. "General Carver inserted her in a week ago. She's been assigned the task of making contact with the Huntress, another vigilante. The Batman has been keeping his activities as war against property; he still follows the super-hero rule of no-killing." The Commander shook his head at the idea. There was no excuse for kid gloves in a war. "The Huntress is not as particular. In the General's opinion, the Huntress is a very good back-up just in case you cannot come to some agreement with the Batman."

"If he exists," the Commander reminded her.

The screen changed to a document that was marked as being a memorandum from the president of the United States. It was addressed to the Commander personally. "President Luthor himself has attested to, in writing, the existence of the Batman. He was a member of the Justice League and is, in fact, one of the few remaining members that did not fly off to Moscow."

"Speaking of the super-heroes, are there any more in the immediate area that we might be able to recruit? Perhaps some with a more proactive approach to fighting the Soviets?"

The Lieutenant smiled. "If you were hoping for a Guy Gardner, then I'm afraid you are going to be disappointed. He was reported killed in Moscow along with the rest of the League. However, the Batman is rumored to have Robin, Batgirl and the Atom working with him, as well as most of the Gotham City Police Department." She typed a few keys and small photos came up of each of the heroes. "All are trained in espionage and are very good at it."

"What about the Huntress?" he asked, making a slight adjustment and taking his fighter down another thousand feet. 

"No information available. She works deep in Soviet territory, taking out targets of opportunity. Rumor is she went toe-to-toe with a Yuri-clone and won the battle of domination." The Commander was impressed. Yuri had used the cloning technology of the Soviet scientists to create copies of himself. Though less powerful than the original, they still had the ability to overcome all except the strongest of minds. 

The Huntress sounded a lot like Tanya. "Try getting me some intel on her. She was a member of the league as well, which means the president can authorize the opening of the old United Nations records." The United Nations had officially been disbanded at the start of hostilities. The Allied forces had confiscated the records of that organization just before New York fell.

"I'll see what I can do," she replied. "You're getting close to Soviet radar space, so I'll sign off now." She gave him a wink and then the screen went blank. 

"Hey, Smith, its time to get up," the Commander said as he took the Harrier into an inverted dive towards the ocean. The wailing of Petty Officer Smith, much like that of a frightened schoolgirl, heralded their arrival to North America.  


	3. Chapter 3

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 3**

_Mother, Father…I tried my best._

_I have fought against evil and injustice using my mind and my body as weapons in a war I could never win. In the years since I first made my vow of revenge in front of your graves, I have learned that so long as more than one person lives upon this planet, there will always be the desire to covet. I can redirect the flow slightly, but the river of crime will always flow._

_I was unprepared for a real war, a conflict where lives were nothing more than numbers placed on a casualty report. I tried to remain true to my ethics and morals, those life lessons you taught me. I refused to take a life, any life, even in the defense of my own. In my quest to remain morally superior, I have attracted a group of outstanding individuals whom I am proud to call family._

_I will miss them._

The Soviet conscript leveled his AK-47 at the head of the Batman and hesitated for just a moment. The rumors and myths surrounding this man, if that was what he truly was, were numerous. The orders of their local commander, Major Disaster, however were very specific. The former super-villain, who was quick to accept his new Soviet masters during the initial invasion, knew that getting rid of the Batman was the very first step to total pacification of Gotham City.

The conscript, a young man from the Ukraine, had never thought he would ever be the person to bring down the great American mystery-man. In many parts of the world, the Batman had become a modern-day bogeyman. The warrior who was now holding the Caped Crusader at a disadvantage did not fully comprehend how close to making true history he was. 

If he had been able to follow through on his mission and had placed a bullet into the head of the Batman, he would have been elevated to the highest echelons of the Soviet military. No doubt he would have been given the opportunity to apply for the Boris program where he would join the ranks of the new elite soldiers the Soviets were putting out. That would never be because the Batman seized upon the young man's hesitation and turned certain death into ultimate victory.

He kicked out by reflex, his scuffed and worn leather boot knocking the assault rifle up and out of the way. The soldier, startled, was unable to maintain his grip and the weapon flew from his ands to land several feet away. He never saw the gauntleted fist that threw him into darkness and he would never know just how close he had come to ending this story.

"Batgirl, report," Batman said as he dodged a hail of bullets from several conscripts holed up in portable toilets. There had been some construction going on in this area be carried out by those citizens of Gotham that had relented and finally accepted Soviet domination. 

There was a pause and then came a cold reply. "Here."

Batman put his back against the wall he was hiding behind and checked his utility belt for smoke pellets. He didn't have enough to get away. It had been foolish for him to even come this far into the city but he had felt the need to see if the rumors were true. It was bad enough that someone like Major Disaster had been given command of the local garrison of Manchester, a section of Gotham City known for its multi-cultural flavor, but then there had been word that Yuri himself was now in town.

The Batman had sneaked in with the darkness but had not been prepared for the security that was now all about this part of town. It was obvious that something was going on; something major and it had turned out to be a building project. Several of the buildings had been torn down, replaced by the now familiar war factories and barracks of the Soviet occupation. 

There was something else as well, something evil. Standing all about were citizens of Gotham City with blank looks on their faces, including Oliver Queen, the former Green Arrow. Batman had not known his old comrade had entered the city and was even more surprised by his apparent defection. Then the Atom, who had been sent out on reconnaissance, had returned with word that Queen was not the only former hero that was apparently inside the Soviet compound. 

The Atom had managed to trip a Tesla generator, shutting down the base defenses and allowing his escape. Even at six inches high, there was a chance that the Tesla coils would detect his presence and fire. "Where are you?" Batman asked into the communicator.

"Near," was the reply. Batgirl had once been the daughter of one of the world's foremost assassins and had been trained to be a killer from birth. She had rejected her father eventually and joined with the Batman in his crusade to bring justice to Gotham City. The war, and seeing many of her friends and co-heroes killed, had changed her. 

"I'm going to need extraction," the Batman admitted. In order to keep from killing in this war, he had come to rely on his partners more and more. Gone were the days of the solitary Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne, the man who chose to run about the war-torn city as the Batman, knew that if Gotham was to ever be free, he had to swallow his pride.

But that also meant he had to accept that his unwillingness to take a life and operate as more of an annoyance to the Soviets would most likely cost him his life one day. After all, the Soviets had taken out Superman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the League at the beginning of the war. In the distance, in an area of Gotham known as Sommerset, there was still green glow in the air. It had been there that Alan Scott, the original and perhaps greatest Green Lantern, had died under a hail of V-3 rockets. His magic ring had exploded and radiated the entire area, turning it into a glowing green patch of nothing.

Soviet Desolators, troopers who specialized in radiological weapons, were said to be training there even now. "Understood. Wait one."

Batman put the communicator away in his utility belt and scanned the area. The Atom was long gone, no doubt hooked up with Commissioner Gordon and his partisans and fleeing back to the Batcave. That was good and the Batman was thankful for having such a resourceful hero on his side. He would have enjoyed fighting alongside Green Arrow as well, despite his liberal views, because he was a good man to have in a fight. It looked as if Green Arrow had defected, though, accepting his place in the new socialist order.

Batman peered over the broken wall and saw ten conscripts trying to move closer and at least four Tesla Troopers. Security was really tight and the Batman could not wait to get into the Batcave to discuss with the Atom everything he saw. He kneeled down behind the wall, out of sight and pulled out his batarang.

Then there was the sound of a razor cutting the wind itself and the Soviet troops cried out. There were a couple of shots and some electrical discharges from the Tesla Troopers and then the sound of bodies falling. Batman stood up and walked into the open.

Batgirl stood there, her head hung so that her long dark hair covered her beautiful Asian features. Despite the war and all of the battle she had been in, Cassandra had blossomed into a woman desirable by all. Her costume, a modified version of her original Batgirl uniform, was cut to show as much skin as it protected, giving her a feeling of almost being naked.

Around her lay the unconscious soldiers. "Ready?" she asked, just a hint of her eyes showing through her hair.

He nodded and the two of them started running. She easily kept up with him and he found himself slightly winded after ten blocks. The bad air from the smoke that always hung over the city was taking its toll on his lungs. He wasn't an old man yet, but he was not as young as his female companion and the strain of constantly fighting this war was getting to him. 

They ended up in an abandoned parking garage. Since the Soviets had begun their occupation, private ownership of vehicles was strictly regulated to those who could afford to pay the appropriate bribes. So much for equal class distinction, the Batman thought grimly as they approached the burnt out hulk of an Allied IFV. 

The United States Army, operating under the control of the Allies, had sent in a small force to try and regain Gotham City at the first part of the war. Gotham had been left relatively unscathed during the first war back in the 1950's, but that was mostly due to the high super-hero population.

That war, prosecuted by Josef Stalin, had been destructive to much of the world, but President Truman had insisted that the heroes remain out of the fight. The fear was that if American super-heroes invaded the Soviet Union, the reds would respond with nuclear weapons. In the end, the fighting was done by the grunts and normal troops and had there had been no clear winner.

When the second war had started, President Luthor had not been as worried. He had sent the heroes to Moscow and the troops into Gotham. Both actions resulted in tragedy and death. 

Batgirl walked up the IFV and touched it. Special sensors read her bioelectric field and determined that she was who she appeared to be. Had it not come to that conclusion, then the IFV would have remained in its current form.

The military vehicle shimmered and then slowly morphed into a modified Hummer that was customized in the bat-motif. Inside at the wheel was a sleeping Robin. He opened one eye and looked at Batgirl and smiled. "Hard day at work, dear?"

Batman could not see the smile that formed on her face. Only Robin brought out the warmer emotions in Batgirl now. "It was fine," she said as she climbed into the back. Batman walked over and got in on the passengers side while Robin started the vehicle.

They were on a back road towards the Batcave within a few minutes and Batman pressed a button on the console between himself and Robin. A screen popped out with a keyboard and there was a whine as the satellite antenna erected at the rear of the vehicle. Batgirl was already asleep by the time her was able to get Oracle on the screen.

The image was that of a red-haired woman with thick glasses that did very little to hide her natural beauty. At one time, Barbara Gordon had been Batgirl, but that had been before she had been injured by the Joker a lifetime before. She had become a cyber-sleuth and the information arm of Batman's army of heroes before the war and now she served as his controller. 

Because of her handicap, she had been moved to a secure location outside the war zone. The Soviets had no use for persons they saw as "defective". Oracle smiled. "You look like hell, Bruce."

Batman did not return the smile. "Has the Atom checked in?"

She typed a few keys and looked over at a secondary monitor. "He and the rest of your team checked into the Batcave five minutes ago. They've requested you get there as soon as possible."

"I'm sure," Batman replied.

She raised an eyebrow. "No…I don't think you do understand. What the hell?" She began to type furiously at her keyboard with one hand and moving a mouse with the other. Robin took his eyes off of the road for a second to glance at Batman's monitor.

"She's pissed," he offered before returning his attention to driving. "You hear that they left the French in charge of the defense of London?"

"No," Batman said, not really caring. He wasn't one for keeping up with the events in other countries. His only concern was forcing the Soviets to admit that maintaining a presence in his city was too expensive.

Oracle smacked the keyboard and tossed it to the side and then looked up at the camera. "We've been hacked."

Batman's brow furrowed. "How?" he asked. The network that they used was paid for by the money that Bruce Wayne possessed and was supposed to rival the extensive network used by both the Allied and Soviet militaries.

"Gonna lose England, wait and see," Robin said, oblivious to the current problem. It had been how he had handled the war so far. By keeping a sense of humor even in the worst situations he had managed to keep morale up and win the heart of Batgirl. 

"I can't trace it but I do know it isn't the Soviets." Oracle cursed some more and threw her hands up. "That's it, I'm down. I'm going to have to re-link to the auxiliary network. I'm going to be down for a week, minimum."

"Does this mean our network is being used by the military?" Batman asked, impatient.

She nodded. "Makes sense. There's an Allied MCV sitting outside Wayne Manor."

"Yeah, baby!" Tanya cried out as she dropped another Soviet soldier. Her twin .45 caliber pistols were raining death and mayhem on the troops as the scrambled to get near her. Three Flak Troopers, armed with anti-aircraft weapons, had taken up a position behind the remains of the five Terror Drones that Tanya had dispatched at the beginning of the firefight. Next to her the Huntress loaded her crossbow again and fired, skewering a guard dog in the throat. In war, there were no victims in the enemy military, only targets.

"You seem to like doing this," the Huntress said with a wicked grin.

"Killing commies makes me horny!" The Huntress looked the woman over with her tight fitting tank top and shapely figure. "Then there must be a very happy man somewhere because you're racking 'em up today, honey!" was the response.

Several feet away Deathstroke slit the throat of a young conscript before pulling his own pistol to take out a Crazy Ivan trying to sneak in towards them. "If you two could quit the foreplay and get back to the mission, we could get more done!" he called out.

Tanya raised her pistols and fired a single shot from each one. The windows of a factory shattered and there were cries as she traced a line of shots across the entire floor. "So, what do you say?" Tanya asked as she dropped her weapons to reload.

The Huntress took down one of the Flak Troopers. "Bastards!" she cried out. She hated Flak Troopers most of all because their shots often took out innocent civilians. She then returned her attention to Tanya who was already firing again. "What about Batman? He's stayed out of my way for the most part, but if he finds out what I'm up to, he might change his mind."

"Batman is not a problem, baby," Tanya said, throwing back her light brown hair. She gave the Huntress a wink. "I have a special guy that can be very convincing!"

"Fine!" Deathstroke called out as he ran by and jumped high into the air. The mercenary came down on top of the two remaining Flak Troopers and ended their lives with two quick thrusts of his sword. "Take the damn offer, Helena!"

Tanya finished off the troops and holstered her guns. She put her hands on her slender hips and took a deep breath. "I love the smell of gunpowder in the morning," she said with a wink.

"It's four in the afternoon, dizzy," Deathstroke reminded her as he approached. His blue chain mail costume had seen better days but there was very little he could do about it. There were no armorers in Gotham City and he wasn't about to leave. He had been the highest paid mercenary in the world, but before that he had been a soldier in the United States Army. He didn't take kindly to his country being overrun by communists. "Cut the gun-bunny act, okay? I recognize your type…Special Forces…trained in everything from explosives to seduction. I'll bet Tanya isn't even your real name."

Tanya eyed the mercenary with a cold stare. "You have a big mouth, Colonel Wilson," she said, her tone suddenly very serious. "Let's not talk about me and instead talk about what I can offer." The trio quickly moved off of the street and headed into one of the buildings that they had just shot up. They had caught a cluster of Terror Drones on their way to the outer perimeter of the city. 

Gotham City was surrounded with the little robotic creatures. Four-legged and programmed to kill any troop or vehicle they encountered that did not carry a special signal device, they were highly feared by the Allied military. The troops were a local patrol that responded to the sound of gunfire. 

An hour later, after more troops had come in and examined the scene of carnage and then departed, three figures exited the building. Two of them headed further into the territory of the enemy while the third, obviously female by the silhouette, quickly made its way south.


	4. Chapter 4

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 4**

The Hummer drove slowly down the broken highway towards Wayne Manor. In the large open field there could be seen an Allied Chrono Miner digging into the soil where it would extract every mineral and element of use. A little farther down they spotted the first of many patrols of troops, some walking a perimeter, others sitting behind walls of sandbags. 

The Batman, Robin and Batgirl had been gone for a week as they slowly made their way into Gotham City. It took time to gain intelligence for two reasons. First, none of them spoke Russian fluently and overhearing conversations only got them so much intelligence. Second was that the Atom, at his six-inch height, normally took a great deal of time to get anywhere inside a Soviet compound.

As they approached a half-built pillbox, two soldiers approached with their weapons drawn. The Hummer was bulletproof and there was really no danger to the occupants. Regardless, Batman, though upset at the intrusion on his ancestral home, he wanted to play it cool to find out what was going on. 

Robin stopped the vehicle and rolled the window down. A soldier, clad in the familiar blue fatigues of the American forces, looked in the vehicle. It was obvious by his expression that he did not know what to make of the occupants. "Sir, I need you to step out of the vehicle," the trooper said.

Robin turned to Batman, who shook his head. "Take us to your leader," Robin replied.

The grunt behind the first one stepped up and seemed ready to open fire when a sergeant stepped forward and waved the men away. "Sorry about that," the senior enlisted man said. "If you drive up to the estate you will be met and taken to see the Commander."

They started back down the road, passing by even more troops. Eventually they came up next to a giant pre-fabricated ore refinery. The funnels at the top of the building belched out black smoke into the air. Batgirl stirred in the back. "They've been busy," she said as she adjusted her top. She then pulled one of her knives from her boot and examined the edge. The knife had never been drawn on anger, but that could always change and that was the Batman secretly feared.

The eventually stopped in front of Wayne Manor itself and they were soon surrounded by several more troopers. The three heroes stepped out of their vehicle, but not before Robin set the security devices on it. As soon as they stepped away from it, a shimmering orange field enveloped it. One of the troopers touched it and received a mild shock. 

They were met at the front door by a man who could only be Special Forces Batman guessed. Professional warriors had a certain look about them and this man, who wore no rank insignia and was dressed in brown fatigues. The man merely glanced at the troopers and they started to move off to other posts. "Mr. Wayne, if you will please follow me, sir," Petty Officer Smith said as he opened the main door.

Not so long before, Alfred would have been responsible for seeing him in. "What have you done to my home?" Batman asked, not moving to step inside. Batgirl grinned evilly and Robin chewed some bubble gum loudly.

Smith pushed back his bush hat. "Sir, I've done nothing to your house except treat it with respect, per the orders of my superior. The Commander is now in charge of this area of conflict. Any questions about property should be directed to him." He then lowered his weapon slightly.

Batman had no doubt he could disarm the man should need to, but what would it solve. There were Allied troopers and vehicles scurrying everywhere. There was no place to go and it was basically his won fault for allowing the estate defenses to deteriorate. All of his efforts had been put into protecting the Batcave. He wondered of they had found it as easily as they had discovered his identity.

Batman nodded and Smith took that as acceptance and the party moved into the manor proper. For the most part, nothing had changed. Sheets were still over much of the old furniture and none of the paintings had been taken down. There were, however, machine gun emplacements at every window, manned by young kids who should have been worrying about keg parties instead of killing other human beings.

They moved through the familiar hallways and Batman cast a glance over to the grandfather clock that hid the stone staircase to the Batcave. It was open and now he was sure that it had been the Allies that had hacked his computer network. 

They finally entered the library and for a moment Batman was taken in with a bit of nostalgia. Ever since the war had started, he had visited this part of the house very rarely. It had been here, as a twenty-year old man, not much older than the GI's manning the windows that he had come upon the idea of becoming the Batman.

Standing next to the fireplace, reading a copy of _The Hobbit_ stood a man who was obviously the person in charge. His uniform was different than the standard military issue, blue fatigues with the Allied Eagles on the lapels. Batman knew enough about the new international ranking structure to understand that this was someone working directly with highest points of command.

The Commander saw the group enter and his gaze remained cool. He gave them a quick once-over and then nodded to Smith, who stepped back to the doorway. "Mr. Wayne," the Commander started as he laid the book on the mantle. "It would be inappropriate to welcome you."

Batman pulled back his mask to reveal a grimy face and long dark hair. His features were still, despite the sweat and dirt, movie star rugged. "You're right about that," he said. Batgirl moved to her normal spot in the far corner and the Commander found himself slightly perturbed that his troopers were ogling her. She was attractive in her revealing outfit but he had already been briefed about her unique skills.

"Let's dispense with the formalities, then," the Commander said. "This area is now the forward line of a push to move the Soviets out of Gotham City. We have been hoping to link up with you and your people to see of we could combine efforts."

Batman shook his head. "We don't need you. The Allies had their chance and they left Gotham to rot two years ago."

The Commander nodded, having expected there to be an argument. "We were overwhelmed and you know it. If you remember, many brave Americans died trying to save your city."

"And many more died afterwards because you weren't prepared," Batman countered.

"It looks like you weren't either," the Commander said before turning around.

"Get out of my house," Batman told him.

The Commander stopped and his shoulders slumped. Slowly, he turned back to face the hero. He found it hard to believe that there really was a Batman and to think he had been a billionaire playboy was simply astounding. He didn't look like a fop. "It is no longer your house Mr. Wayne."

"The hell it isn't," Robin snapped. "Who the…"

Batman raised a hand for silence and his partner quieted down. The Commander narrowed his eyes. "We are at war, Mr. Wayne; Gotham City is considered a territory under the control of the enemy and therefore you have no rights as far as property goes that are acknowledged by the United States. President Luthor extends his personal regrets for your monetary loss."

Batman chuckled darkly. "I'm sure the president does." Again he came to a crossroads of what to do and action did not seem appropriate. There was something about this Commander the Batman liked and he realized they were kindred spirits. They were driven men in difficult circumstances.

"However, under the new war powers acts that the auxiliary Congress passed, I am authorized to grant new deeds and titles for land to individuals who contribute to the war effort," the Commander said.

"Save it," Batman told him. "I'm not interested in fighting your war. You come in here, take away private property and then demand that the rightful owners become soldiers in your war. I've been doing fine on my own. Keep the mansion with my regards."

The Commander shook his head. "We're here to liberate your city and you just want to turn your back on it? It is your city, correct?'

Batman narrowed his eyes. "I was here fighting for the people of Gotham City long before _Kirov_ airships started appearing in the sky. Don't try to play any mind games with me; it won't work. You can't make me feel guilty for not accepting the aid of a force that will most likely destroy more than it will save." Batman then pointed outside to the fields that were being torn apart by the miners. "If you want to help, quit tearing apart my home. If you want to help then quit trying to kill people and find out what the real problem is!"

The Commander narrowed his own gaze and stepped towards Batman. Both men were of similar height and build but there were many sharp contrasts. The Commander, for one thing, was clean and wearing fresh clothes. "The problem is Yuri; we know that and you know that. It does not change the fact that there are Soviet soldiers violating the sovereignty of the United States right now."

"So, what have you done about Yuri?" Robin asked, the humor gone from his tone. "If you knew all along he was the one controlling Romanov, then why haven't you moved against him?"

"It's kind of hard to do when your country is being overrun, kid," Smith said from the doorway. "Just because Yuri controls the Premier doesn't mean there aren't Soviet generals who didn't want this war to happen."

"You mean Vladimir," Robin replied and Smith nodded. 

"So, tell me Mr. Batman," the Commander said as he moved over to a table with a map of Gotham on it. "What have you done to further the Allied cause?"

Batman refused to be baited and stepped over to the map. It had the city divided into its 23 sections, boroughs and precincts. Most of them were colored in red, representing the Soviet occupational forces. Bristol, where they were currently and the Lower East Side were in blue. "According to my map here, you haven't done squat."

"We do what we can," Robin said in an attempt to defend their actions over the past two years. The truth was that Batman's policy of not taking lives had cost them many allies, including Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress. Others had left their camp as well until there were only the three of them, the Atom and the remains of the Gotham City Police Department. Batgirl was starting to question their methods when they were alone together and more than once she had whispered she was tempted to join up with the Huntress and her Outsiders.

"And it has had pretty dire results," the Commander replied, looking the younger man in the eye. Robin could not help but look away and the Commander turned his attention to Batman. Batgirl remained in the corner, her face still hidden by her long dark hair. "Gotham City had 8 million residents when the war started. There are roughly 800,000 left. I hope your high morality keeps you warm at night."

Batman said nothing but his mind was working overtime. He had not been aware that the casualty rate had been so high and for a microsecond, he did begin to wonder if it had all been a waste. He had tried to maintain some sense of the morals his parents had taught him. He was about to respond when the Commander dropped the biggest bombshell. "And, they killed Nightwing in Bludhaven two weeks ago."

Batman stood erect and there was a slight gasp from Batgirl, the first sound to come from her during the entire confrontation. A change came over the face of Batman and suddenly he wasn't the dark freedom fighter, but was instead a grieving father. The Commander wondered of he had pushed the hero too far with that information, but he also understood that he needed to get across to the Batman that this was serious.

All of the information that had been hacked out of the Batman's own computer network by the Lieutenant indicated that even though the sabotage missions of his force had been largely successful, his unwillingness to take out so-called "soft targets" had done nothing more than slow the Soviet advance. General Carver wanted the Batman on board for a special mission and that mission involved going up against Yuri's own clones and forces while he built up the forces needed to take down the regular troops.

Batman said nothing but turned around and slowly walked away. Robin's eyes were already teary and he surely would have collapsed had it not been for the sudden appearance of Batgirl by his side. There was no way for the Commander to know that Nightwing was perhaps the most beloved of the entire "Bat Family". 

He was the son of the Batman and the mentor to Robin. For Batgirl, he had been a first crush and to Oracle, who probably did not know yet, he had been a lover. 

"I need a secure video line," Batman said. It wasn't a request for men like the Batman did not ask for anything. The Commander nodded to an engineer that was sitting nearby and the man got up and asked the Batman to follow him. The Caped Crusader half walked/half stumbled into the kitchen where a serving line had been set up. Through the kitchen they moved into a small passageway that led to the former quarters of Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth.

Old Alfred had been in England on the day the war started, a vacation long overdue. Bruce had not heard from him since.

At the small desk the butler had used to write letters to the few relatives that were still living had a laptop computer with a satellite link. The engineer asked whom Batman wanted to call and he made a link instantly. Without another word, the engineer exited the room and closed the door. Two GI's passed the engineer as he moved back into the kitchen and they took up positions at the door.

"Bruce?" Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Oracle, asked. She saw the tears in his eyes.

Batman turned his head away for a moment, trying to figure out the words to convey his feelings. This was the woman who, at one time not so long ago, could have been his daughter-in-law. He took a deep breath and returned his gaze to the web cam.

"Dick is dead."

She said nothing at first and then all of her composure melted away as the grief assailed her and broke down all of her defenses. Together they poured out their sadness and together they made a promise. 

Those responsible would be brought to justice.  


	5. Chapter 5

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 5**

Several of his clones were stalking about the main compound casting their gaze on the soldiers and controlled civilians that were working. They made good work captains and allowed the infantry officers to concentrate on pushing the conscripted troops outside the walls. Yuri was pleased with the security so far but he knew it needed to be upgraded.

A Soviet spy plane had taken pictures of an Allied prefabricated base that had been established in one of the southern sectors. A scouting patrol of three _Rhino_ tanks had not returned and espionage activities in other parts of the city had increased over the last few days. It was almost as if the Batman had sensed Yuri's arrival.

The Russian mutant doubted that was so; all of his intelligence indicated that the Batman was nothing more than a very accomplished human. A perceptive one as well, he mused, since the Batman had refused to join the rest of the Justice League in their ill-fated attempt to wrest control of Moscow away from Premier Romanov. He had not come to the aid of the Justice Society when it finally fell before the might of the Soviet invasion. In fact, all he had done was remain in Gotham City causing havoc and costing the Kremlin plenty of rubbles. 

Still, he was a rallying point, albeit a small one, in a city that control had to be kept over. This also provided him with an opportunity to have his personal scientists and technicians work on his pet projects. After all, Romanov was nothing more than a puppet that Yuri pulled the strings of and eventually he would have to cut those strings. One of the problems with that was that General Vladimir had suspicions and until Yuri had enough forces under his control, he remained a credible threat.

Yuri looked over to Comrade Billy. The man had the blank stare of someone possessed but fortunately it did not require much effort to keep him in line. Comrade Billy, for all of his power, was a simpleton. 

They stopped in front of a special research lab and watched as a non-commissioned officer drilled his latest super-hero captures. They had called themselves a Justice League Task Force and had attacked a new base being established in Star City. They succeeded in halting the overall operation but not before several of Yuri's "children" had taken over their minds. A series of operations in Leningrad had assured permanent control.

If only it would be that simple with Comrade Billy. His invulnerability made such a procedure impractical and dangerous. 

A Tesla Trooper officer approached and saluted. Yuri returned the gesture and asked about the training of the "People's Justice Comrades". The trooper removed his helmet to reveal pale Cossack features. "Many of them accept orders without question, but the one called Green Arrow…he rebels against everything."

Yuri laughed. "He is of strong will, but not strong enough. In time he will comply." He then regarded the pretty dark-haired woman, the Black Canary. He had been surprised to find out that the blonde hair she normally had sported was dyed. It did nothing to diminish her beauty but it did seem so superficial.

The others had been minor super-heroes, nobody of worth and whose skills were nothing to appreciate. These two, however, were something to hold on to. "Keep them marching, it will help make them more susceptible to taking orders, comrade." The Trooper saluted again and replaced his helmet. He marched over to the non-com and said something and soon the possessed heroes were running in place.

Yuri nodded and turned to Billy. "Come, comrade, we will go inspect the new war factory upgrades."

"Your will is my command," Billy replied.

The mutant liked the sound of that and together they crossed over what had been the parking lot of a high school to where several technicians were observing the automated construction of _Kirov_ airships. Yuri had requested several of them for transfer to the New York base. It was merely a preventative measure. If, for some reason, he were to lose control of this area to the Allies, then he wanted to make double sure that New York was well defended. He knew that the Big Apple, the gateway to the United States on the Atlantic coast, was a symbol to the Americans. Retaining control of it was primary; Gotham City was secondary. 

Unlike Vladimir, Yuri knew when to cut his losses. "Comrade Technician," Yuri said from behind the group. Immediately all of the assembled engineers jumped and turned. They threw up salutes, some smartly and others sloppily. "How go the operations?"

One of them men spoke up. "Comrade Yuri, we are progressing at 2% over the average rate. The power drain is high, though, and we feel that building another Tesla reactor would be prudent."

Yuri thought about it for a moment. All it would take is the sabotage of one reactor to shut the base down completely. That meant not just the Tesla coils and flak guns, but the automated processes in the construction yards and war factories would slow to a crawl. The Batman had not done very much damage to the bases established in the inner city, but on the outskirts he had damaged many ore refineries, Tesla reactors and various other buildings as well as several vehicles. 

In fact, the Batman had become quite adept at anti-tank warfare. 

There was also the option of flying in the materials needed to build a nuclear power plant. Not a large one to power the city, but one that would supply reliable electricity to the bases only. Yuri did not really care about the general populace of the city, except perhaps those females that would prove good breeding stock, and so there was generally not enough power available to them. 

The only suitable area was north and there was the problem. The Huntress was known to operate up that way every once in awhile and intelligence indicated that she most likely would not hesitate to blow up a small nuclear reactor just to kill a few Russians.

He admired her coldness. "Yes, comrade, send the request to my personal computer. I will detail an area for building later today."

The engineer smiled and started to turn when Yuri coughed. "Da, comrade Yuri?" he asked.

"Comrade engineer, had you submitted any requests for a nuclear weapon silo to your former commander?" Yuri asked. He already knew the answer. Of all of the military leaders in the Soviet command, only General Vladimir enjoyed using weapons of mass destruction like Yuri did. It was such a shame that Vladimir was so ambitious. 

"No, we never…"

Yuri held up a gloved hand. "Comrade, do not worry yourself about it. The proper materials will be here next week. Prepare your work crews as required." The engineer nodded and turned back to discuss the latest developments with his coworkers. Yuri left them to their discussions and continued his walk. 

He intended to inspect the V-3 rocket launcher platforms. They were an improvement over the V-2 design that Stalin had originally employed in his unsuccessful war against the Allies decades before. 

He and Billy met up with the officer-in-charge as he was directing a group of four of the vehicles out of a gate and towards an outlying position. Several infantry followed the rockets; the trucks were lightly armored and were easy prey to Allied air and ground attacks.

Yuri informed the officer what he needed and then directed him to contact the officer in charge of tank deployments. "I want to see how strong the Allied defenses are right now. It will give me an idea of what sort of commander I face."

"You know that a small tank probe isn't the last we will hear from them," Smith said as he and the Commander walked down the stone steps behind the grandfather clock. They led down to the famous Batcave, which had served as the Batman's command and control area for his operations over the last two years. It was basically a complete base underground.

"I know, but I want to wait and see what they do so I can tell what sort of idiot I'm facing on the Soviet side," the Commander replied.

Smith chuckled. "Rumor mill is that they have a new commander; one of our spies got video of a general being executed by guard dog. You want to see it?'

"No, I think I'll pass on that." The Commander stopped at the bottom of the stairs and took in the activity. The cavern was wide and high and packed full of crates of food, clothing and medicine. Prefabricated offices were arranged everywhere and there was a giant penny over to one side. "He sure likes money, doesn't he?'

"I understand it's a trophy from a case…"

"Lovely." He looked over to a complete machine shop and saw Batgirl sharpening a knife. There were also several men in SWAT uniforms working on non-lethal weapons around her. Any time an Allied trooper got near her, the Commander noted that the expressions on the men's faces changed. They were a tight-knit group, which could be a good thing or a bad thing.

Robin was over in the corner, working out in a complex martial arts routine. He was quite good. At another table were several engineers talking with a man in a blue and red costume. The Commander knew that he was Ray Palmer, the Atom. He decided that it would be best to introduce himself before the Batman had a chance to poison the other hero's mind.

As he walked over, the Commander went over what he knew about the Atom in his head. Ray Palmer had been a brilliant physicist that had devoted his life to the study of white dwarf stars. Through his research he had developed the ability to reduce his body size and alter his weight and mass. As the Atom he had been a member of the Justice League of America and the Titans. His base of operations had been the New England city of Ivy Town.

Ivy Town had been one of the very first cities devastated by the Soviet war machine. The Commander seemed to remember something about a terrorist training camps being placed there as well. 

Obviously, the Mighty Mite had moved here to Gotham to pull resources with the Batman. He stepped up to the smaller man and extended his hand. The Atom wiped some sweat from his brow and accepted. "Hi, I'm Ray Palmer, uh…Colonel?"

The Commander smiled. Often times when he met someone new they tried to figure out his rank from his insignia, but it would do them no good. "You can simply call me the Commander."

The Atom pulled his head away but kept the smile on his face. He seemed generally happy and the Commander could only guess it was because of all of the operatives under the Batman's command he was the most active. The files the Lieutenant hacked from the Oracle database showed that the Atom was on a mission nearly every hour of every day. 

Activity had a tendency to keep the mind from dwelling on more painful subjects. The Atom's file had also stated he had an ex-wife, a lawyer, who had lived in Ivy Town. "I was surprised to see you guys here when I got back," the Atom said. "I can say that I'm glad for it, though."

"Really? That's quite a change from the attitudes of everyone else," the Commander replied.

Shrugging, the Atom explained. "Unlike big, dark and mean, I want to get help anywhere I can. I've lost a lot of friends in this war and I don't want to lose any more." He turned back to what he was working on and the Commander saw it was a toaster. "I like toast," the Atom explained.

The Commander patted him on the shoulder, happy to see he had at least one ally in Batman's camp. "So do I; maybe later you'll look at my electric toothbrush?"

The Atom laughed. "Sure, Commander, whatever you say." 


	6. Chapter 6

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 6**

At one time she had been a living weapon. She had studied fighting techniques under the Batman and criminal investigation techniques by listening to her police commissioner father. She had donned the costume of the original Batgirl and fought crime in Gotham City next to its primary protector.

Then years later she had decided to retire and looked forward to enjoying life as a simple civilian. She had wanted to marry and have children. She wanted to serve the people in a capacity that did not require her to beat the snot out of them. She received her doctorate in her early twenties and served one term as a United States congresswoman. By the time the Joker had shot her through the spine she had lived a life it would have taken four normal women to live.

But from there she did not stop. She refused to accept her disability as a handicap but instead looked at it as a challenge. She developed her mind so that it became as lethal as her body had once been and she put behind her all of the problems associated with the loss of her legs. She even found true love with a wonder, faithful and loyal man named Dick Grayson and there was the hope that one day they could have been married.

Then the Soviets invaded and pushed back not only America's super-heroes but also all of the troops that came to repel the invasion. Grayson, who was also Nightwing, refused to stand by and let Bludhaven, his adopted home, suffer under Communist rule. He had left her to protect a city that had never welcomed him and now she knew he had paid with his life for his naivety. 

And still she grieved because she loved him for the simple philosophy that had guided him through life. 

Barbara Gordon signed off of the videophone and left Bruce Wayne to handle his own broken heart. Bruce was used to tragedy and he would deal with this in his own way. Right now, though, there was no time to grieve. He had not asked her to do anything because they both knew that the communications were being recorded. The Allied command had hacked into the Batman's personal Gotham network in order to save time and it would be an entire week before Barbara could get the secondaries up and running with new encryption programs.

That didn't mean, though, that she could not hack into the Allied mainframe!

In order to use the Batman's network, there had to be a line linking the two. Barbara knew that the Allies used several hacking specialists in their network operations and she had a feeling she knew who had managed to get into the one she had designed. Her call sign was simply the "Lieutenant" and Barbara, as Oracle, had encountered several times before. Usually it was when the both of them trying to get into a Soviet network. In fact, Barbara had started to consider the Lieutenant an ally until this latest invasion.

She didn't completely blame the other hacker, but it would have been nice if she had just asked. Military types normally did not do that, however; the only thing they understood was force.

It took Barbara a good half hour before she found out exactly how her system had been broken into. It had been initially impossible because she could not guess who had done it. There were hundreds of military hackers but now that she knew that it had been the Lieutenant, she could find the hole. 

A simple check of a chat room communication that she and the Lieutenant had a few months back revealed a small Trojan horse program that had slipped through the anti-virus software and firewall. It had lain dormant until it was activated by the time and date. This had been planned long in advance.

A way in was two-way street, however, and Barbara knew that she could use their own line of attack as a path for her own counter-attack. 

Five hours later she pulled off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. Her mind was reeling from the information she had come across completely by accident. It had started with two hours of hacking and coding to get through a very impressive firewall. The reason it had been so impressive was because Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle and one-time boyfriend of Barbara had written it. Ted had been killed during the invasion of Hub City and his company had been federalized by President Luthor after the official declaration of emergency and martial law.

An hour later, using the authorization of Captain Atom, a super-hero that worked for the United States Army and had been a member of the Justice League of America (before he died in Moscow), Barbara was where she wanted to be. Luckily, the military was slow in recent months to audit command codes and authorizations. That happened when people were dying in droves to save civilization.

The Commander's personnel file was too classified even for Captain Atom, but there were some reference files that she was able to get into but not after writing a program that made her appear to be President Luthor's national security advisor. In those files she found a sub-folder that was under the name of Albert Einstein.

History indicated that at the end of the first American-Soviet War, Dr. Einstein, the most brilliant scientist that the Allies had employed, had disappeared from the public eye. It was assumed that for a job well done that he was given the opportunity to retire in relative obscurity. The file had indicated otherwise.

According to what she had read, Albert Einstein had done more to influence the future of the world than probably anyone else save Jesus Christ. In a transcript of an interview with the man, he revealed that he had built a time machine that had allowed him to travel back to the 1920's. There he had murdered an amateur artist and World War veteran named Adolf Hitler. Einstein had claimed that Hitler would eventually become leader of Germany and would drag the entire world into another World War.

Barbara had at first snickered at the thought. After the fighting had ceased in 1918, Germany had been a devastated nation. The idea that it could have built itself back up into a world power so quickly was ludicrous. But Einstein had insisted that what he had said had been the truth.

Unfortunately, Einstein had commented, his meddling with the past had allowed Stalin's Russia to build up its military until it got to the point it could challenge the whole world. In Einstein's true reality, Russia had been one of the Allies against Germany; now the Soviets were the enemy.

Einstein, unwilling to try and fix the past for fear of what else would happen, instead directed his energies to helping defeat Stalin. That war was won by the Allies and Einstein, before he could be properly honored, had hopped in his time machine to race to the future. He had appeared only months after the new Soviet invasion and he was now working with the Allies.

If that were true, then it meant that Einstein had a working time machine…

"I have my hands full here," was the reply to Barbara's request. She bit her lip to keep from interrupting the conversation. "We've beaten back every Soviet attempt to establish a base or stronghold here."

"Tatsu," Barbara began as she once again tried to convince Katana to aid her in her plight. "I know you have one of the old Justice League cargo jets there in Boise…"

The Japanese woman smiled. "Yes, the spoils of war." In reality the vehicle, designed to ferry large cargo from the Earth to the Justice League satellite, had been in Boise undergoing repairs when the war had started. Katana, a former member of the Outsiders (a group of heroes once led by the Batman) had "appropriated" the ship several months before when she out together her own resistance effort. "How is Bruce?" Katana asked.

Barbara sighed and slowly detailed the events of the past few days and as she did so, Katana's expression changed from one of mirth to anger. She had barely known Nightwing, but had respected him based upon his reputation. "I did not know that the war was going so badly on the east coast. We've had some really good successes here."

"This Commander thinks that he can get the ball rolling here, but I have another idea," Barbara replied. Katana asked if the Batman knew what she was doing. "My job is to anticipate the Batman's needs before he realizes he has them. Is that a problem?"

There was a pause as Barbara's grave words and stern tone sank in. Katana shook her head slowly. "This war, this conflict…it has changed all of us. Of course I will help you but I will require more help. I'm no super-hero anymore."

Barbara thanked her and started typing at her keyboard. The video screen split and both women were soon looking at a wire frame map of the United States. It started to zoom in on the state of Montana. "The Canadian military has established a free fire zone in this area; I know that Goldstar, the former partner of Booster Gold, is here coordinating refugee efforts. I think she can be convinced to help out."

Katana tapped the screen. "I don't know; I'd prefer someone with more experience…"

"Everyone with experience is dead," Barbara reminded her. "The League was taken down in Moscow, along with the People's Heroes and the Rocket Red Brigade," Barbara reminded her. It was the only consolation when discussing the loss of the Justice League; at least there were no Russian super-teams plaguing the Allies. "The Justice Society was hunted down one by one' the Titans and Outsiders disbanded…there is nobody else."

"I've got a line on some operatives that are on the gray side of the law," Katana mentioned. Were the Batman listening in, he would have forbid it. The rule of law still existed as far as he was concerned. There would be no villains working for him. The Batman had even sent the Catwoman away…though most of the Batman's inner circle agreed that he had done it for more personal reasons. "Moonbow escaped Pittsburgh and has made her way out to Salt Lake City."

Barbara agreed to the plan. "You realize the full ramifications of what I'm asking?"

Katana blew out. "You are asking me to retrieve something for a friend; that much I can do. That much I owe Bruce and you and everyone else in Gotham City who treated me well when I lived there. Japan, too, has suffered in this war and let us not forget my people have no great love for the men of Russia."

For a moment Barbara was struck by the irony of the situation. She was asking Katana, a woman of Japanese origin, to kidnap a German scientist and his time machine so an American could go back in time and set the past right. If successful, then Japan would become a world power of awesome proportions. But Japan and Germany would not survive intact and would instead suffer greatly in a World War that would change civilization forever.

But Katana knew none of this and Barbara was not sure she believed it. What of old Einstein was simply insane? What of none of this would do any good? There was a school of thought that said you could not change the past and you could not predict the future. 

Then she had to consider why she was doing this. Would the Batman really approve? Was she using the war as a justification for playing God in order to save the life of one man? Was a single soul worth tearing apart the time stream? At least Einstein had mentioned six million souls…

"You don't want to know why I want…"

Katana shook her head. "The less I know, the better I'll feel. I will do this for honor's sake and nothing else. The reasons are not for me to worry about." Her warm smile then returned and for a moment, the scars that covered her face, a result of Soviet torturers, seemed to melt away and she was the beautiful young woman Barbara remembered. "I have missed being a hero."


	7. Chapter 7

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

http://darthyoshi.topcities.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 7**

Private Jones popped a piece of chewing gum into his mouth and offered the pack to Corporal Stein. The senior man begged off and turned to Corporal Nadir. "You want some gum?" he asked.

Nadir checked his weapon for the hundredth time and shook his head. "Got no time to chew," he said in his best impression of the 80's actor Mr. T. They were hold up inside a small concrete bunker at the very edge of the Allied sphere of influence. Outside was the Korean flag. Allied protocol called for flags of all member states to be flown on bases when possible. In the week and a half that the Commander had been in charge of what was now known as the "Bat Base", he had made an effort to put some legitimacy into the command. "You two morons had better be keeping an eye out," Nadir reminded them. He was the senior man in the bunker and therefore by default the man in charge. "Those Soviet dogs are out there, I can smell them."

Nadir, like the other two men, had a passionate hatred for the Soviets. Originally from Egypt, he had watched in horror as the communist war machine had overrun his country's defenses and forced what soldiers that could escape to flee into hated Israel. Even though the two nations had been officially at peace since the 1970's it did nothing to overcome thousands of years of cultural differences.

Then the Soviets had attacked Israel and now Nadir and Stein, neither of them Americans, were now helping a young black man from Harlem protect Gotham City. "I don't see how you can smell anything with that harbor air," Jones commented as he took a whiff. Gotham harbor was close enough that its scent carried well. Never the cleanest of places, the Soviets had used it as a dumping ground for everything from industrial waste to dead bodies. The water wasn't fit to drink much less smell. Jones smacked his lips. "I swear, it tastes like old pus—"

"Enough, private," Stein warned with a smile. He liked Jones and he had to admit that he liked Nadir. Unfortunately, they were all grunts and their likes and dislikes would never make national policy. "You hear that?"

Nadir brought his rifle up and put it at one of the gun ports while he looked through a small viewfinder. Ahead of them was the highway leading into Gotham proper and some woods on either side. It was late enough in the morning that there was no fog and he considered radioing to headquarters to ask for a check of the area. The spy satellite link had been established the day before and the entire area was open to them.

As of on cue, the Commander's voice came over the small radio in the bunker. "Point Alpha, this is Command: something is coming your way. I've got some little red dots swarming towards your position and to the west. Let me know what you see."

Nadir responded and then ordered the other two men to check their weapons. "Sounds like drones," he said coldly. Terror Drones were small, four-legged robots that were programmed to read the bioelectric fields of living creatures and the magnetic signatures of vehicles. In the case of Allied soldiers, they were quite adept at living up to their name. Once they came within range of their target, they would leap into the air and drive their legs deep into the flesh of their victim. They would them stab at over a hundred times a minute with each one, reducing the screaming soldier, citizen or even the occasional cow into a bloody paste.

In vehicles, they normally attached themselves to the outer shell and dug their way inside. Sometimes they killed the occupants before dropping small explosives throughout the machine until it exploded. Fortunately, they were often times destroyed at that time, but sometimes they weren't. It wasn't uncommon to have a single Terror Drone taking down four or five tanks before being turned into burnt parts.

You could always tell when the drones were around, though, because their little legs made the most awful scurrying sound as the moved around. Then, as they attacked, a special audio file played that sounded like a pig being slaughtered. All in all, they were mechanical demons from a Russian hell. 

It was only a minute or so later that a pack of six of the drones came up over a small rise in the highway. Nadir took careful aim even as he brought his radio up and made a report. The Commander acknowledged. "I'm issuing orders to three combat patrols to move forward along with some machine-gun IFV's."

"Acknowledged," Nadir whispered. It was natural for him not to speak for that was the first reaction of anyone who was terrified. He would not shirk his duty and he was glad to feel Stein's hand on his shoulder.

"I got your back, my friend."

Nadir suppressed a giggle as he could only imagine what his brother, Allah protect him, who was now recovering in a Syrian hospital, would think about this. All of his life, Nadir had been taught to hate the Zionists and he had very little respect for Americans. When they had first been put together, the three men had not spoken a word to each other. Combat, spilling enemy blood and the realization that getting closer to God was more of a reality than you liked to admit made strange bedfellows indeed.

Yet, Nadir, who had been decorated twice for bravery in battle, could think of no other people he would rather slaughter Soviet scum with. "Best to watch my front; that is where the Terror Drones are at."

"Mother…damn!" Jones said in an excited voice. He was on their left, looking out into the woods. They all heard the hum of internal combustion engines and they could just make out the red and white paint of some sort of Soviet vehicle. "Flak trucks!"

Nothing more than a heavy-duty truck with a small troop compartment and a large gun mounted in the back, the flak vehicles were common in the Soviet arsenal. Normally they were sent in first to establish an air defense perimeter or to take in engineers who would try to overtake structures. Because most structures were automated, it made them extremely vulnerable to being commandeered. There was no other way, however, there simply were not enough people to continue the war effort with their blood and sweat.

Nadir radioed the presence of the trucks and then returned his attention to the drones, which had stopped just outside his firing range. "I wish we had a sniper," he whispered. The British trained the best snipers in the world but that did them no good right now.

"We could call in an air strike," Jones suggested. Nadir was ahead of him but the Commander denied the request. "Eye in the sky says there is a whole squad of flak troops sneaking up as well. I'm moving a reserve squad of tanks…"

The transmission was cut off as several Soviet conscripts leapt out of the flak trucks and scrambled over the bushes and fallen trees that were only a few yards from their position. "Incoming!" Stein cried out as he returned fire. A lucky shot had taken out Nadir's radio. "We're under attack!"

Both sides started trading gunfire but it was the Allied troops that had the advantage of walls and other protection, while the poor Russian draftees had only their uniforms to keep the hot lead from their hearts. The Allied soldiers kept firing and enemy soldier after enemy soldier fell to the ground. 

Little did the three men know that the common footmen being thrown at them were nothing more than a diversion as several more Terror Drones raced by in the confusion. 

The second line of defense before getting to the actual property that Wayne Manor sat on was a horse farm that had once belonged to a member of the Du Pont family. The buildings were mostly gone, having been brought down as target practice for the Soviet tank brigade stationed in Gotham City. 

Here the Commander had stationed a fire line consisting of several tanks and IFV's. There was also a small airfield on the property that the Commander had been using to secretly ferry in paratroopers to supplement his forces. He had been trying to get the materials together to build another MCV (Mobile Construction Vehicle) to create what he coined as a "Diversionary Base". The idea was to build a base that would be an inviting target and would cause the Soviets to deviate away from the true base. Unfortunately, it appeared that the raw materials in this part of Gotham County had already been stripped for the most part. Their only hope was to find real funds to purchase the materials needed and have them air-lifted in. Those materials would be dropped in large crates that would later be gathered up by Allied forces.

The Terror Drones, fifteen in all, stopped a good hundred yards from the line of vehicles. Behind the tanks and IFV's, soldiers scurried about, jumping into small sandbag barricades. There were no buildings here for protection; this was simply a line fashioned in the style of the battles of old. Two sets of forces facing each other down.

Suddenly overhead four Harrier jets came down out of the clouds and headed towards the line of Terror Drones. They launched their surface-to-ground missiles and then, in unison, veered off to head back towards Wayne Manor and their landing pad where they would be immediately reloaded. 

Three of the little robots exploded and several more were damaged. The fourth set of missiles struck a tank that was coming up over a rise, slowing it down. 

In his command headquarters, with the Batman standing next to him, the Commander used his computer to relay orders to various forces spread out over a large area. Batman was silent next to the Commander, realizing that there was very little he could do at this moment. He knew he was out of his league as far as this battle and to be sure, he had no desire to simply sit back and let the Soviets overrun his ancestral home.

So, the little robots and the Allied soldiers were going to fight and the Batman was completely useless. He could not stop the bloodshed and already he had engaged in several heated debates with both Batgirl and the Atom on the subject.

Batgirl wanted the restraints taken off. She argued that the laws of society did not apply when that society was no longer a factor. The Atom's argument was more pragmatic: the only way to end the violence was to use greater violence. 

Robin said nothing, loyal as always, and simply stood in the back of the room. Several of the former GCPD officers that worked with Batman were also eager to join in the fighting. The Caped Crusader was sure that there was another way. 

As the remaining Terror Drones scurried towards the defensive line, he just wasn't sure that was true anymore.

"This crap-trap is falling apart around us!" Jones cried out as he slammed a clip home into his assault rifle. The small bunker they were in was indeed in dire need of some major renovations, Nadir thought as another bullet managed to get in through one of the new holes in the wall. Their problem was the huge _Apocalypse_ tank sitting outside.

There were also several troops still out there. Stein said a curse. "Damn it! Where are those IFV's?"

Jones stopped firing long enough to squint past the gun smoke. "I think I see some flames just on the other side of those trees. Looks like our reinforcements ain't coming!"

"Allah protect us because those vehicle-jocks cannot!" Nadir replied. He quickly surveyed the quickly decaying defenses and made a command decision. "We must pull back to the next defensive line!"

"I can see why you're in charge," Stein said with a wry grin as he threw down his rifle. It had jammed on him and he had been unable to clear it. He produced a 9mm Beretta. "Lead the way, Corporal."

Jones moved over to the heavy steel door that secured the bunker and quickly threw the four latches that held it in place. With a nod from Nadir, he yanked the door open and Stein hopped out, his weapon in front of him. A single Terror Drone was waiting for them, but it had a damaged front leg and simply stood there, sparking. Two shots ended its artificial life.

"Move!" Nadir called out, pushing Jones out of the bunker. Both men ran up the small stairs to ground level and were immediately met with gunfire. At least six more conscripts had joined the twenty or so that were already forming a skirmish line in front of them. 

Jones ran towards the sandbags that they had put up just ahead of the Soviet fire. Stein was almost there when he took a bullet to the thigh. He went down hard and Nadir ran to pick him up. "I swear you are getting too fat!" Nadir cursed as he tried to heave his friend up. 

More tanks drove by, ignoring the soldiers and moving to engage the other line that the Commander had put up. Nadir shoved Stein down into the sandbag pit and hopped down behind them as well. "This ain't good!" Jones cried out. He fired and two conscripts went down but several more were able to get by. "They're flanking us!"

Nadir reached for Stein's radio. "No batteries," the wounded soldier said with gritted teeth.

The Egyptian-born soldier was about to admonish the other man when he felt something intrude into his mind. It was like a dagger stabbing deep into the very center of his soul. He felt his memories and experiences pouring out as if he were bleeding. 

He did not see the Yuri clone standing just behind a group conscripts, greedily rubbing his hands together as he supped upon Nadir's psyche. 

To his credit, Nadir tried to fight off the artificial human's control over him. He prayed silently to Allah for power and strength, to allow him to remain a soldier in the cause of goodness. The Soviets represented a world devoid of God and therefore were the guardians of hell. 

But he was only a man and he knew that there had been times in his life when his faith had faltered, when he had made the mistakes that a man inevitably would. The Yuri clone discovered Nadir's shame and amplified it a million times over. In a matter of seconds, the man that Nadir had been, a good man who loved his God and his people and his culture, a man who wanted to create a new world where everyone would have the opportunity to hear about the glories of Paradise, was gone and replaced with merely an extension of a most evil mind. 

Nadir killed both Stein and Jones, a single shot from his own pistol to each man. The Yuri clone cackled with glee and sent a telepathic message to his "father". Yuri replied that he had no time to listen to reports about individual encounters. He needed to see the true strength of the Allied defenses around the mansions of Bristol and therefore evaluate the general in charge of the enemy forces.

The Yuri clone was not happy with the rebuke and sent a command to Nadir to shoot himself. Minutes later, several conscripts trampled over the three bodies on their way to engage the main Allied line.


	8. Chapter 8

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

http://darthyoshi.topcities.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 8**

Tanya entered Wayne Manor and could not help but be impressed by what she saw. Even though many of the more expensive pieces of art and other worthwhile items had been removed, there was still enough to keep her attention as she moved from room to room. When she finally got to the library, the sight of the computers and satellite hook-ups amid a place that should have been dedicated to the pursuit of simple reading almost sickened her.

Despite the "bad girl" exterior and a willingness to do the impossible, inside Tanya was something of a bookworm. She loved nothing better than curling up with a good novel, be it science fiction or romance. Letting her mind draw pictures for her as she read the words was the best way to pass the time between assignments.

Except maybe sharing the company of a good man.

"Commander, sir," she said with a salute and a smile. The men stationed in the room grinned at her not because she was arguably the prettiest thing they had seen in awhile, but because she was one of them through and through. All the tight-fitting t-shirts in the world could not replace the respect she garnered for her actions on the field of battle.

The Commander was obviously happy to see her but a cool demeanor quickly replaced the momentary glint of joy in his eyes. "Agent Tanya, allow me to present the Batman himself, Bruce Wayne." He stepped away to reveal the other man, whose face was returning to normal color after having been as red as a tomato.

Tanya gave him a quick once-over and decided that had she not been involved with her commanding officer, this would be a man worthy of her attentions. Bruce Wayne radiated a natural charisma and Tanya knew enough of the Batman from her conversations with the Huntress and Deathstroke to know that he was capable of doing much more than just looking good.

He offered his hand and she took it, mildly surprised that his eyes did not fall to her chest. This was a man of discipline and therefore a man of danger. Ninety-nine percent of men in the world when presented with a pair of breasts always looked. The Commander had been the first man to pass her test. Bruce Wayne was the second.

"I was just having another argument of philosophy with Mr. Wayne. Our outer defenses were probed two days ago by the Soviets and we barely held at the secondary line. In the end we had to send out every machinegun IFV we had to mow down nearly fifty Soviet troops." The Commander turned to accept a report from an aide and took a second to sign it before continuing. "Then an _Apocalypse_ tank showed up and started chewing through everything. Damn thing took down nearly every main battle tank I had on the line."

"And hundreds of men on both sides died as a result," Bruce added. "Instead, if you used non-lethal means, you could have merely taken all of those young men prisoner."

"A noble sentiment, but to what end, Mr. Wayne?" Tanya asked. "Yuri has developed cloning chambers that rapidly create perfect copies of individual soldiers. Word has it he got the technology from S.T.A.R. Labs here in the United States."

"So because it's inconvenient we don't do it? Not in my city…"

"It's not your city!" the Commander reiterated, more loudly than he had wanted to. Several of the people in the library stopped what they were doing for a moment and looked at each other. When they thought they were being scrutinized by their commanding officer, they quickly returned to work. 

The Commander indicated that Tanya and Bruce should follow him and they immediately moved to the back of the house, through the kitchen and out onto a patio that was serving as a makeshift weapons repair and storage area. Somebody called "Ten-hut" as the Commander stepped out and he immediately put them at ease. 

The trio was silent as they walked across the grounds of Wayne Manor towards an area that had once served as a horse training area. Bruce's mother had ridden here. Bruce had not and seeing the Yuri clone in the electrified cage that was now there angered him. In fact, just about everything about this new situation was making him angry.

They stopped a good distance from the cage. An intelligence officer was interrogating the clone, captured when he was rendered unconscious in the battle. Four soldiers stood with their weapons at the ready. Any time the clone tried to take over a mind of one of the Allied troops and he would be shot dead.

"We don't kill them all, Mr. Wayne," the Commander announced.

"Killing doesn't solve anything. Have you tried anything…I mean anything else to try and change the way this war is going?"

Tanya snorted. "You can tell you're a civilian, you know that?"

Bruce shook his head, said good-bye and then left to go speak with his own people. The Commander watched him leave. "You look tired," Tanya remarked.

"I am tired. The one battle I end up with unacceptable losses and I've got super-pacifist watching me. All the battle the other day did was strengthen the Batman's resolve that what we're doing is wrong." He sighed and turned back to her. "You were successful?"

She nodded and gave him a wicked smile. "I covered the whole city and its like you thought, only it isn't Vladimir or that other general that's running the show, it's Yuri himself. Caught sight of him delivering a speech to the assembled masses of converted citizens."

"Interesting. I wonder why he's here."

"I asked the Huntress about it, who, by the way, agreed to act as our own little internal black ops operator if we wanted, and she said she thinks he's here to get the Batman." She stretched and yawned, their secret signal to indicate she was feeling romantic. "Believe it or not, the things that he's been doing against the Soviets has kept a portion of the populace motivated. If he ever does get the upper hand in Gotham, it could serve as a rallying point for the rest of the country."

"I know…but he's so damn rigid."

"Reminds me of you," she said before stretching one more time. When he made no comment, she shrugged and realized that the moment was gone. "Do you want the rest of my report?"

"Yes, I'm interested in this Huntress and her band…"

His voice trailed off as something caught his eye, a brief flash of movement from the tree line. Surely it wasn't another attack, but he couldn't be sure. He had read intelligence reports about the Soviet answer to the Tanya Program; it produced super-soldiers called "Boris". Tanya seemed to sense where he was looking and she pulled both of her .45 caliber pistols out and started heading towards the foliage.

Something whistled through the air and the Yuri clone was down, a green shaft sticking out of the back of his skull. The interrogator backed up and then dived for the ground as G.I.'s took cover behind sandbags. Another arrow was launched and the Commander would have taken a shot to the chest if Petty Officer Smith had not been there.

Like he appeared out of thin air, the SEAL grabbed his commander and threw him roughly to the ground, taking the missile to his own shoulder. Racing past Smith as he fell to one knee, Robin paced Tanya as they both went to investigate the latest attack. She didn't know that the man in the orange and green costume had a pretty good idea who was firing at them.

The Atom had infiltrated the Soviet camp and had seen both Green Arrow and Black canary there, obviously under Yuri's control. Robin looked over at the woman in the halter-top and fatigues. "Be on the look out for a blond with sonic powers," he warned her. Black Canary was a mutant who could emit a "canary cry" that could shatter eardrums if used correctly.

Tanya nodded and immediately broke right just as an arrow struck the ground where she had been. Robin knew that a healthy Green Arrow in possession of al of his faculties would not have missed. He broke left and just missed being shot, but a trooper behind him went down with an arrow to the leg. 

The tree line wasn't so far away and both Tanya and Robin broke through the initial shrubbery and into the woods proper in seconds. The area was supposed to be guarded by security cameras, but Green Arrow would have known where they were. The Commander had relied on the cameras to serve as an early warning system while he waited for fresh troops to be parachuted in. Obviously, Yuri had counted on that. 

Robin and Tanya were about fifty yards apart and neither could see anything. Tanya tracked the entire landscape with her pistols, waiting to shoot anyone who popped up smelling like vodka and caviar. Nothing happened.

A squad of Rocket Troopers came hovering in on their jet packs and began a perimeter search, but after twenty minutes, they didn't find anything. Ten minutes after that Tanya reported to the infirmary on the second floor of Wayne Manor. There the Commander was overseeing the treatment of his bodyguard and angle of mercy, Petty Officer Smith.

Bruce Wayne was nowhere to be seen but there was a remarkably fit Asian woman helping treat some wounded soldiers in the far corner of one of the rooms. Tanya tried to see her face but her long dark hair hid it. The elite soldier found herself slightly jealous of the fighting shape the other woman was obviously in. Tanya was a trained killer; the other woman was a deadly weapon.

Robin came up the stairs, his face showing his frustration at letting Green Arrow get away and he immediately went to the Asian woman. Tanya guessed she was Batgirl, the one the Huntress had told her about.

Her mission to contact the Huntress and establish a link in Gotham that was friendlier to the Allied point of view was successful, but it wouldn't amount to a hill of beans if they couldn't get it together here in the Wayne Estate. It would only be a matter of time before Yuri's _Kirov_ airships started floating overhead, carpet-bombing the entire area. The only thing that was stopping them, Tanya guessed, was a lack of lighter-than-air gasses.

An Allied destroyer off the coast had sunk a transport that was supposed to bring that in by sea a few days before. "We're getting our butts kicked," the Commander whispered to her.

"We need to create some sort of diversion to get Yuri to concentrate on something else, something that he thinks is more important," she replied.

The Commander agreed and Smith, who was wincing as the medical corpsman worked on him, grumbled. "Can't the two of you get a room, sir?"

"We'll take yours, squidly," Tanya joked. She admired the navy SEALs, especially Smith who protected her Commander when she couldn't. "Maybe we should ask the Lieutenant what the higher ups think is worth going after."

The Commander agreed. "I'll do that while you and Smith discuss what you saw on your little excursion into Gotham City."

"Mr. Wayne, sir," Patrolman Kelly said with a raised hand, "are we going to just sit back and do nothing while these guys tear down everything we've worked for?"

Bruce, clad in his Batman costume, sans the cape and cowl, considered the question for a moment. He was under pressure from all sides to simply throw away his oath against killing and join the war effort full force. There was no doubt he could do a lot to help the Allies kill Soviets, but that was not what he wanted to do. Once you traveled down the killing road, you never wanted to come back.

"You have all worked with me for several years now, and I thank you, but the time has come for you to make a decision." He grabbed a bar stool from a workbench and sat down in it to address the men and women in blue fatigues. "Jim Gordon entrusted you to me because he knew that I would work not to just liberate Gotham City, but I would work to preserve the system of justice that made us different than the invaders. I have tried my best and despite that, many of our friends, loved ones and allies have died because we refused to kill."

He paused and took a deep breath. He saw Ray Palmer put down something he was working on and wander over, as did a couple of the Allied troops that were milling about the Batcave. "I will not kill, not even to defend myself. I hold life to be so precious that I'm willing to risk everything to preserve it. It isn't fair, in a time of war, for me to try and force you to bend to my philosophy. Maybe I am wrong, but this country and my mission are about freedom and that includes the freedom to not end the lives of young men and women who are fighting because they have no choice. These Soviet troops are children being led to slaughter by power-mad dictators. I don't believe they want to fight us, but they have no choice."

Now Robin and Batgirl joined the group, having come down arm in arm from the manor above. He waited until they drew closer. "The Commander has graciously offered to allow all of you to enlist as part of a Gotham militia. The current thinking is that the Soviet leader in charge here is after me and will stop at nothing until he gets me. By following me, I could be leading you to your deaths. I could also stop you from doing what your conscience dictates. Regardless, serving and working with each and every one of you during this time of crisis has been an honor and I hope all of you will stay with me. Know this, and I will not accept any more arguments, if you remain as part of my family, then you will not kill."

A half hour later, more than three-quarters of the former GCPD officers were still with the Batman. Most of the ones that left were former military or SWAT team members and Bruce had to admit he expected that to happen. He was surprised to see that both Batgirl and Robin had stayed, as had Ray.

"I thought you wanted to get more aggressive," he said to Batgirl as he started working on repairing a frayed line. 

"I do," Batgirl replied. She gave Robin a kiss on the cheek and then strutted off to begin her third exercise period of the day. 

Robin pulled a bench up next to Batman and started putting on his favorite smile. "She doesn't want you dead. Despite how much you piss her off, she respects you for standing by your position."

"It's good to know I still have some friends," Bruce said dryly. 

"You hear about Ollie attacking us?" Robin asked. Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, was one of Bruce Wayne's oldest friends. It was an odd pairing, the hippy-liberal and the control-freak conservative. Yet, they had always held the other in the highest regard. 

"Yes. Oracle is on to something that might make all of this moot." He didn't go into any more detail than that and Robin respected it. He was used to being kept in the dark about such things, it was the nature of the beast when working with the Batman. "We need to deal with Green Arrow and Black Canary before we can act on Oracle's information. And," he added, "we need to do it quickly. Katana is coming home to get us and she's bringing an early Christmas present."


	9. Chapter 9

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

http://darthyoshi.topcities.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 9**

The telephone inside the guard shack started to ring and the lone conscript standing outside the small structure cursed and shouldered his AK-47. He did not believe that there would be any good news coming with this phone call and he was loath to answer it. 

His position was at the entrance to the battle lab area of the massive Soviet complex that took up most of what had been downtown Gotham City. It was not the only lab the Soviets were operating, but it was the one he had been assigned the wretched duty of maintaining watch over. Late in the night, when his senior commanders thought it would be funny to assign him watch, he would hear screams coming from the upper floors of the prefabricated structure.

Next to the battle lab were the barracks, where the poor soldier, along with his comrades, slept in relative discomfort. Ever since Yuri had arrived he had diverted every resource available to either probing the Allied position on the outskirts of the city or for his own private projects. The rumors were that he was doing human experimentation in the labs, trying to create mutants.

The phone continued ringing and the soldier stepped into the musty guardhouse and unslung his rifle. Grumbling some more about how unfair it was that someone who graduated from the University of Moscow with a degree in music should be doing such work, he picked up the receiver.

"Da?" was the only thing he got out before the Atom, shrunk to atomic size and riding the electrons in the phone line, exited the receiver and landed a punch to the poor soldier's jaw. Through the use of his personal size and weight controls, the blow landed was not that of an extremely tiny man, but that of a full-grown 180 lb version. The soldier tumbled down and ended up in heap on the floor of the guardhouse. 

The Atom, returned to his normal size stopped what he was doing and waited to hear of any alarm klaxons went off. Satisfied he had not been discovered, he wrestled the now-sleeping soldier into the single chair in the shack. After a few minutes, the Atom had successfully made it seem like the soldier was sitting and talking on the phone; only close examination would betray the ruse.

Silently, the mighty mite exited the guardhouse and started to make his way to the battle lab. The Batman had agreed with the Commander that it was necessary to see if any more super-heroes were under the control of Yuri. So far it was confirmed that Green Arrow and Black Canary were now working for the Soviets. The Commander wanted to know about any other dangers; the Batman was curious to see of there was a way to save them.

The death of Nightwing had brought the war way too close to home for the Batman and the Atom was happy that the Dark Knight had at least made the effort to try and compromise with the Commander. The Atom was a practical man and knew that regardless of the efforts of Batman, once the Allies established a foothold in Gotham, they would be there to stay. It was better to get along with them than to fight them.

The Atom stopped when he heard a dog bark. The Soviets had the best guard dogs in the world, so good in fact that the Allies had stolen the documents relating to the training of such animals for their own use. The dogs could smell a spy no matter how good the disguise and more than once the Atom had worried he was going to be eaten for his efforts at espionage.

The dogs were too far away and he picked up the conversations of the handlers. Their accents were American and he guessed that they were conscripting the local population into their forces. It made sense; the United States was a big place to try and occupy and the Atom had heard that the Soviets were even now attacking London as well.

"Damn French are going to lose England for us," the Atom muttered as he quickly made his way to some trees. He had to cover as much ground as he could at his regular height for the sake of time. It would be daylight in a few hours and at six inches tall, he could only make roughly 10% of the stride that he could at normal height.

The Atom paused to get a good look around. He was surprised at how easily he had slipped into the role of a spy as soon as he joined Batman's crew. Both had served in the Justice League, the Atom joining the original team long before the Caped Crusader. Yet it was Batman who was most associated with the League. 

The League had represented the best and brightest that America, no the free world, had to offer in the way of a peacekeeping force. Even now, many months after the last of them had been confirmed dead, it was hard for him to believe that his friends were gone. The Mighty Mite could not even begin to imagine what could have killed Superman.

But all of them had fallen before the Soviet onslaught. Yuri, the mutant who was in charge of this particular base, was obviously a very powerful villain and now he was recruiting super-heroes for his team. The thought made the Atom shudder.

Batman had guessed that Yuri had taken control of some of the League members when the task force arrived in Moscow. In the first war, the government had kept the Justice Society from getting involved and maybe it had been for the best. Though Yuri was too young to be involved in that war (though the Atom wondered about that), it was possible that Stalin might have had the technology available to him. How would the world have changed if Stalin had won that one?

Shrinking down to six inches, the Atom hopped through some barbed wire and dodged around cigarette butts and debris until he got to the side of the battle lab. He heard screaming form within; some of it from pain, some of it from passion. Some was a mixture of both. All of it sickened him.

The scientist within him was fascinated with the technology behind the prefabricated buildings that both sides used. He considered how better that technology would have been used it if had provided a home for every family; a school in every neighborhood. Now it was simply used to further the cause of death. The Soviet invasion had nothing to do with the spread of communism. If that were true, then there would be the true equality of all of the people that the Russians always claimed they strove for. Instead the Atom saw two classes of people in the supposedly classless society of Soviet-controlled America. The living and the dead.

One of the flaws to all of the Soviet prefab buildings was that they had too large of openings for the power line and water hookups. There was enough space between the walls and conduit for him to squeeze in which is exactly what he did. Following the lines to lower utility room, he would then be able to get access to the rest of the building. None of the battle labs were set up exactly the same. Most had the same types of rooms and equipment, but there was always something unique about each one.

This one was much more different in that the Atom saw several scientists and very few soldiers. Normally there was an entire squad on each floor just in case. The six-inch hero made his way to the stairs and waited, listening for the sounds of an approaching guard. Though it took longer than expected, a conscript finally came walking down the stairs, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. The Atom adjusted his weight and jumped, grabbing hold the guard's leg and crawling up to the edge of his coat.

The soldier never knew what happened.

By the time the Atom reached the top floor, all hell had broken loose. Glancing out a window, he saw the anti-aircraft guns of the Soviet base firing in rapid succession, filling the skies with flak and shrapnel. Alarms were sounding and several troops were scurrying about, firing their AK-47's here and there as confusion overwhelmed the young soldiers.

Even in the battle lab there was a heightened sense of urgency. A general lockdown was occurring, but that didn't matter to someone who could slip between a door and the floor when he had to. The Atom did not like to shrink down to that size; people would be shocked to find out what critters reigned as king in the small world. 

He didn't know what the commotion was about, but he could guess. He had heard the Commander discussing with some of his officers of launching a night raid on the Soviet base, but the Mighty Mite had never heard exactly where. Apparently paratroopers were jumping in and attacking the Tesla power generators located nearby. Without power, nothing would work and the Soviets would be sitting ducks for Harrier strikes. 

The Atom decided to get back to his mission and started looking around for some lab that didn't have any screaming. One of the first things he had to teach himself when he started getting involved in this war was he had to block out the screaming. There was always someone in pain when there was a war on. No single person could stop all of it and that was one reason why he stayed with the Batman. 

The Commander offered only one solution to the war. Despite his gut desire to wreak revenge on the Soviet aggressors, he had elected to stay with Batman and try a different approach. If there was  away, he wanted to bring Green Arrow and Black Canary back home. With them, they would have four Justice League members and that could serve as a rallying point. Batman didn't see it that way. His view was free Gotham and keep it free and that would serve as an example.

He returned to normal size when he realized that the top floor was empty. Obviously this was a newer building or else Yuri had ordered most of his work taken to the more secure labs in the center of the city. It was rumored that he had a small nuclear power plant operating there as well. 

The gunfire outside was getting closer and the Atom heard a huge boom as a troop carrier was shot out of the sky and came down into some abandoned buildings nearby. Curiosity got the best of him and he moved to another window. Down below him, five Allied troopers were dug in and mowing down every passing Soviet. In the bright, white light of the Soviet guard towers, the Atom could see blood everywhere.

A sound behind him caused him to shrink immediately to six inches. He was moving before the last bullet left the barrel of the AK-47 pointed in his direction. Adjusting his size and weight controls, the Atom scurried over to the boot of the conscript, who was now looking around for his target, and lifted. The gunman fell back, his riffle firing off a shot as he did so. The bullet punctured the sprinkler line and the fire alarm went off.

Luckily, with the Allied attack going on outside, there was very little chance that a Soviet damage control party was going to show up any time soon. The Atom dispatched his assailant with a quick one-two punch as he returned to normal size. He turned and moved over to the stairs. Satisfied he was in the clear, he pulled out a small radio. "Control Freak, this is Shrinky Dink."

"You know I don't like that name," the Batman answered. The Caped Crusader would have been inside his private room in the Batcave, the only room the Allied engineers had not figured out how to get into. The Atom knew that both Batgirl and Robin would have been busy either repairing equipment or playing horizontal tag under the sheets.

"I'm in the target, but there's really nothing here. Mostly some torture cells and some pleasure cells. My guess its either a decoy or they've moved everything in town." The Atom took a second to look out the window again. Two of the Allied troopers were down and he could see a Soviet Main Battle Tank moving in to get a shot.

"Did you know that the Commander was calling in an attack?"

There was a pause. "No, but he doesn't include me in his meetings. He's also managed to find just about every bug I had installed in the Manor. I assumed he would be rebuilding the defensive lines with the reinforcements coming up from Cuba." The small island nation had fallen to the Allies the week before and General Carver was already shipping as many troops as he could up to Gotham City. "I think his mission now is to keep us out of the picture as long as they can."

"What do you mean?"

"I think he expected me to cave in when we lost all of those volunteers. He's also hinted that he's been in contact with the Huntress and Deathstroke." The Batman didn't need to say anymore. Obviously, if he wouldn't play ball, someone else would.

"What do you want me to do?" the Atom asked as he watched the three remaining G.I.'s get up and race around the building. Seconds later, he heard rapid gunfire and ricochets from far down below. "Christ! They're shooting this building!"

The prefabricated buildings were tough and durable and easily repairable, but they also had some weak points that properly trained troops could exploit. It was known fact that the same access that had allowed the Atom in was also someplace that could be made structurally weak with the right amount of gunfire. 

The first indication that there was a serious problem was when the lights went out. "I'm in complete darkness," the Atom said.

There was a pause before Batman responded. "Robin just told me that they are launching a full scale raid in the downtown facilities, trying to take out as many power generating station that they can. They've even called in some air support from off-shore aircraft carriers."

The Atom moved over to the window again and looked out. He was shocked to see a lone Soviet figure armed with a composite bow taking down the approaching Allied forces. "Damn it! Arrow is outside!"

"Do you see any Hornets for the carriers overhead?" Batman asked. "Batgirl said that air traffic control is going nuts. It seems that the Soviets have launched flying saucers or something like that…"

Another explosion down below shook the building. "Did you say flying saucers?" The Atom asked as he pressed his face up to the window and strained to look up. In the distance he could see some explosions, but it was too dark to make anything else out. In fact, he noted, several parts of the city were darkened.

"I can't see anything," the Atom said. "This is a bust. Arrow is outside and there's too much confusion for me to get near him." He took another glace down and saw that the Emerald Archer was gone, replaced by several tanks. He recognized one of the vehicles as an IFV modified for use with Tesla coil weapons. 

That signaled something odd. "I think the Soviets have control of an Allied construction facility somewhere in the area," he remarked.

Batman agreed. "I suspected that they had found some of the National Guard buildings but I would say they never repaired them."

"Until this Yuri guy showed up. He's bad news, Batman…" The Atom turned as he heard footsteps running up the stairs. "Gotta go!"

He shrank down to six inches and ran to a corner of the hallway. He didn't want to jump into a room until he saw what was coming. The lights started to flicker and the Atom noted that he had not heard any gunfire for a minute or two. Obviously the Soviet engineers had started restoring power. Their efficiency was unnerving.

The first person at the top of the stairs was definitely female. What he saw in the strobing effect of the overhead lamps was figure that was accentuated by the pleasing curves of the female body. Then he was knocked back by a sonic wave as the Black Canary let loose with her Canary Cry. 

The cry was not enough to knock him out and that told him it was being used at a lower frequency. His scientific mind theorized that she was using her sonic powers much like a bat or dolphin did, for echo location. He rolled his little body and tried to get up, his last thought was what a shame it was that such a beautiful woman, and a good friend, had been turned to darkness.

Green Arrow lowered his bow and moved slowly down the passageway towards the small target he had skewered with his arrow. Black Canary walked beside him, neither of them smiled. They felt no relief, no pity and no joy. They simply obeyed the commands of Yuri through the small psychic receivers inside their heads. They had to hurry, as the Allied attack was more pressing on the eastern side of the city and seemed to be enhanced by partisan support.

Green Arrow lowered himself on his haunches and grabbed the green shaft sticking in the plastic wall. At the end of it was what looked like a damaged action figure, but was in truth the dead form of Ray Palmer, the Atom.

A small radio, barely discernable to the eye, fell from the dead hero's costume and struck the floor with a sound that was not audible. The cries of the Batman for a status report were unheard of as well.


	10. Chapter 10

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

http://darthyoshi.topcities.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 10**

The navy was doing its best to press the attack, but quite simply, it was being slaughtered. Just off the east coast of Gotham City, three aircraft carriers, guarded by destroyers and guided missile cruisers, launched wave after wave of Hornets to attack targets deep within the city. For most of the pilots, it was old hat, standard fare for a war. The younger air jocks, those who had not gotten enough kills to put the coveted golden chevrons were more apprehensive.

Most people joined the military with the hope of defending their country from attack; most did not join so they could wage war on their home soil. Yet, many of these pilots were being asked to do that. Certainly they had the most advanced "smart" weapons that the Allied militaries had to offer, but every warrior knew that there was always "collateral" damage in warfare.

Add to this the thick flack that the Soviet guns were putting in the air; it was like taking a ride into hell just to get to the target. The current survival rate for planes flying in was about 33%, meaning that flight leaders were coming back, but the newer recruits were not. 

But the Soviets were not without their own air power. Early in the war, the decision had been made to forego increasing the MIG forces and instead concentrate on airship (Zeppelin) technology. Slow and lumbering, but armored as well as a tank through the use of secret alloys, the _Kirov_ airships were packed with bombs and able to complete decimate a target in seconds.

The guided missile cruisers, ships specifically designated for air defense, picked up the _Kirov_'s coming in from the their hiding place deep within the city. As soon as the massive blimps came into range, they began firing their missiles, peppering the armor of the slow behemoths. Unfortunately, they did not have the time to continue firing. Soviet attack submarines, waiting off shore for orders from Yuri, pounced upon the grouped together surface vessels.

By the time the destroyers, with their anti-submarine planes, made it to where the carnage was taking place, most of the cruisers were going down. The water was filled with drowning and dying sailors, but the Soviet air and sea forces did not let up. Bombs were dropped on groups of swimming seamen even as the task force commander contacted the Commander for reinforcements. 

Ten troops in jet packs took off from the Commander's base in response, flying over the defenses of the Allies and into the darkness that hung over the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Again, as if he were reading the mind of the Commander, Yuri had several Sea Scorpion patrol vessels waiting just out of radar range. Fast and maneuverable, the ships carried flak cannons that were perfect for throwing debris into the intakes of the jet packs. One by one, the brave Allied troopers tried to get away but it was no use. They all fell into the unforgiving waters before they even came within sight of the task force.

The Batwing rose up on two vertical columns of super-heated air and just cleared the opening in the top of Wayne Mountain, the name given to the large hill on the edge of the Wayne property. Batman ignored the orders to land and instead turned the plane towards the ocean. Behind him, Robin was strangely quiet. "Are you okay, son?" Batman asked as he adjusted the focus on his heads-up display.

"I'm worried that we can't get a hold of Ray is all," the younger man said. "We've lost too many friends." It was a true enough statement Batman agreed. He had lost way too many friends in this war, but if what Oracle had told him, if the information she had discovered in the Allied database was true, then there was a way for him to make everything right.

Batman held no illusions that he was the savior of humanity. He knew better. But he did have a responsibility to the memory of everyone from his parents to Superman to Nightwing to try and correct a past wrong and bring about justice. That was all that Batman wanted, not to slip into savagery where only the strong survived. He wanted to reestablish the rule of law that everyone who had been important to him respected.

Right now, though, the Soviets were killing innocent sailors and Batman could do something about it. "Activating stealth mode," he announced as he flipped a switch. The Batwing was a one-of-a-kind plane, a highly modified prototype of a stealth fighter that WayneTech had been developing before the war. When the government had backed out of the project, Batman had used it as an opportunity to seize the plane for himself.

He did find it ironic that he had been involved in military contracts before the war, but he had been naïve enough to start to believe that the Justice League would have been able to handle anything. After all, when you can repel a Martian invasion, how much trouble could Russians be?

How wrong he had been! It still stung to realize that he had been arrogant enough to think that a bunch of people in funny costumes could change human nature! "Confirm steal mode is activated," Robin replied. "Picking up several radar trying to find us."

"Home in on the nearest one, prepare primary non-lethal weapon," Batman replied as he received the input from Robin's computer.

"Wayne! God dammit! Get your ass back here!" the Commander screamed through the communications channel. 

Batman replied by tapping the Commander in to a compact disc of popular children's tunes. "Coming up on first target; it's a Soviet missile cruiser."

Batman nodded and watched as the massive vessel came up on his screen. The ships were designed to lob powerful conventional missiles onto shore defenses. They were essentially a derivative of the same weapons that were used in mechanized forces. "Their radar has locked onto a small guard outpost; I bet they don't even know they're out there!"

Batman acknowledged and took the Batwing into a dive. It screamed through the cold night air as Batman counted down how far they were from smacking into the ocean. Just a hundred feet above the Soviet vessel he pulled up so that the plane he would level out just above the smoke stacks. He pressed the primary trigger and felt as a bomb was dropped out of his weapons bay.

One of the missile racks was being elevated and the technician in charge looked up in time to see a black mass pass over the vessel, followed by a great whoosh of air and sound. Then there was a bright light and the foam bomb exploded. Upon contact with air, the concentrated foam expanded to over a thousand times its original size.

Soviet sailors cursed and yelled as they were covered in the sticky, firefighting ooze. It gummed up everything, including the tops of the stacks, forcing the captain to shut down his engines. The missiles could not be launched either as they were stuck fast to their launch rails.

The Batman was given several one-fingered salutes as he moved on to the next target.

The flying saucers were exactly that, saucer-shaped flyers that had rotating bottoms. The Batman could not even begin to guess the technology that was behind their design, but he guessed that it had nothing to do with the standard Soviet military. One of them took a shot at the Batwing as he passed.

"They can see through our defenses," Robin announced.

"Always the master of the obvious, aren't you," Batman said as he struggled to regain control of the Batwing. The shot had damaged the hydraulics. 

"I was trained by the World's Greatest Detective," was the reply. "Arming electromagnetic pulse weapon."

Batman did not bother to acknowledge, but instead went out far to make a wide turn back. His flight took him into the range of some of the flak weapons and he found himself going through the same puffs of debris that the brave pilots from the carriers were having to pass through. 

"I think I understand your reasoning, finally," Robin said softly from the rear. Batman took the time to look over his shoulder at the burning city below. All of the killing and conquering had done nothing but reduce a magnificent city to ashes. There were fires everywhere and Batman could see the familiar green glow on the outskirts of the city, the death place of Alan Scott. "I think Cassie needs to see this. She still respects you, but she just doesn't get it I think."

Batman shook his head and applied more engine thrust. "Nobody should have to understand this."

"Comrade Batman," a raspy voice called over the channel.

Batman remained cool and brought the Batwing in on a direct course for the nearest flying saucer. "This is the Batman," he said as the electro-magnetic pulse gun came on line. Robin furiously was working on rerouting the damaged hydraulics to the secondary systems. "I assume this is the Soviet commander?"

There was a hoarse laugh on the other end of the line. "Very cute, but very foolish, Dark Knight. I am not so ignorant as to think you have not already figured out who I am."

Batman felt the controls ease and he managed to get out of the way of a passing trio of Hornets, on their way to destroy even more of his city. He half felt like pursuing them, but there was always the chance they would simply be bombing burned out abandoned buildings; the flying saucers were killing seamen on those carriers. "Then you already know that talking to me is a waste of time."

"It is never a waste to engage in conversation with your intellectual equals, Batman," Yuri replied. "Ah, I see you are busy attacking my newest weapons. Please, continue."

Batman gritted his teeth and wondered how Yuri knew. Perhaps he had cameras on the saucers or maybe he was even watching through the Batman's mind. He lined up on the nearest saucer and fired the weapon. A small projectile launched from the forward cannon and crossed the gap between the two flyers. It contacted against the hull of the saucer and Batman pulled back on the yoke, taking the Batwing up and over the Soviet space ship.

He was coming back around when he saw the vehicle smash into the dark water. Before the foam had settled from its drop, the carriers were launching rescue craft to get the pilots and hopefully capture the new technology. "Very good, comrade," Yuri said with a chuckle. "But failure is not an option with me."

Even as Batman fired another round at the next saucer, the one he had disabled exploded into a million pieces. The fireball illuminated the horror in Batman's eyes. "My God, are you insane? You're killing your own people!"

"No, comrade, I am killing yours," Yuri confessed. "All of my saucers are manned by citizens of Gotham that are under my control. In fact, I carry out all of my experiments on your weak peers."

"Batman, what's wrong?" Robin asked.

Batman found it odd until he realized that he was not hearing Yuri's voice over the headphones, but it was being placed inside his mind. "Get out of my mind!" Batman snapped, pulling all of his anger and rage together to form a mental hammer. He succeeded in forcing Yuri out, but the distraction had led him over the city proper.

Up close the damage to the once great urban sprawl was even more disheartening. There was very little of the actual city left in the northern districts. There were several Soviet military buildings and some that Batman did not recognize; buildings he knew were not there the last time he had ventured this far on foot. Everything north of the city center was nothing but a massive industrialized military complex. 

He took the Batwing down several hundred feet and activated the camera underneath. He did this as a way to collect evidence for the war crimes trials that would surely follow the conflict. 

They flew over row after row of Soviet armor; production had been increased to an almost superhuman scale and the Batman realized that the Commander was in extreme dire straits. Yuri was not about to give up Gotham City without a real fight. He wanted to go further, wanted to get a look at the area where Alan Scott had gone down. The rumor was that the Soviets were training their special radiation troopers there, but the sky was suddenly full of flak.

At least twenty flak trucks were positioned around a series of battle labs and what Batman took to be several occupied allied buildings. He pulled away and headed back south, avoiding the flak and the opportunities presented by tethered _Kirov_ airships. He could not take the chance that he was going to cause Yuri to kill more Gothamites by his actions. "What the hell do you want?" Batman whispered to himself.

"We've got a tail!" Robin suddenly called out. "Missile or something just launched from the ground near city hall."

Batman looked at the secondary threat screen and was amazed that his computer could not identify the weapon. Oracle had programmed the system herself, drawing information siphoned from the world's best military databases. Without knowing what sort of weapon it was, it would be difficult to come up with some sort of countermeasure. 

"It's moving way too fast for a conventional rocket," Robin added. There was a pause as Batman hit the afterburners. "I think it's a metahuman."

Batman nodded and wondered what he was up against now. He decided to turn the Batwing back towards the ocean so that if he had to ditch, it would be away from any innocent civilians. As he turned, the Batwing shuddered at something broke through the left wing, sending the black craft flipping end over end. 

In Batman's mind, he heard Yuri laughing. "I'd like to introduce you to an old friend of yours. I call him Comrade Billy. I believe you called him…Captain Marvel!"


	11. Chapter 11

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 11**

Katana, clad in the samurai gear she wore when she had fought crime, pulled back on the yoke in time to avoid hitting was looked like a flying saucer. Goldstar was up and out of the co-pilot's seat and making her way back to the "Superman Door". Essentially it was the cargo door, which could be opened in flight if necessary. It had been named because it was usually the way Superman stepped out of the cargo jet back when it was part of the Justice League arsenal.

There had not even been time to work out a plan as Katana found herself in the middle of a full shooting war between naval assets of the Allies and what appeared to be a Martian invasion. Several _Hornets_ flew by and some even circled around to get a second look. By all accounts, they should have shot her down, but thankfully they had more pressing matters to attend to. 

Several Soviet vessels were steaming towards the besieged Allied fleet and there was nothing really she could do about it. The cargo jet had no weapons and even if it did, her cargo was far too precious to take into harm's way. Moonbow had died in the rescue of Einstein, who had been grabbed by a Soviet team only an hour before Katana had arrived. They had stopped the Soviet from making off with him, but in the process his time machine had taken some bullet damage. Even now he was in the back, cursing in German, telling Katana to flight more level.

Goldstar threw a wave to Katana as she flew by the cockpit, her special battle suit energized and ready for action. The woman in the costume did not like to use her powers very much because it tended to draw too much attention and it hampered her activities with the resistance. The Soviets seemed almost fanatical about hunting down metahumans. Except for Green Arrow and Black Canary (and Green Arrow wasn't a metahuman), the Russians were not employing the heroes as weapons. 

Goldstar died not ten feet away from the cargo jet; a green laser from one of the flying discs simply turned her dancers body into red paste. Blood and gore flew against the windshield and Katana screamed. She prayed for the gods to provide a vengeance worthy of her burning hatred and turned the jet towards Gotham City.

Behind her, more _Hornet_ fighters exploded in mid-air and crashed into the unforgiving sea.

The Batwing crashed into the sea.

Batman watched it all from his vantage point, in the grasp of Captain Marvel. The man who was known as the World's Mightiest Mortal had always been a gentle soul, a person of high moral character and values. In truth, he was one of the few metahumans that Batman had actually admired.

All of that was different now as he dangled hundreds of feet above the sea, his wrist in the iron hold of "Comrade Billy". "Billy! You bastard! Robin is still in the Batwing!"

Captain Marvel said nothing but instead stroked his dark beard with his free hand. A _Harrier_ jet, undoubtedly from the Commander's base at Wayne Manor, came by too close and the former hero's attention was distracted. Batman used the opportunity to pull out a Batarang and attempt to plunge it deep into Marvel's hand.

The weapon broke at the wingtip and Batman dropped it from his hand. He tried swinging in order to get into a position to kick Marvel, but the traitor seemed to sense it and he threw Batman into the air. The Caped Crusader went about two hundred feet up before gravity caught hold of him and started to pull him back down.

He wanted to get away and fall into the sea, try to save his young friend, but a part of his mind told him that Robin was already dead. All he was trying to do was join him. By the time Marvel caught hold of him and started flying back towards Soviet-controlled Gotham City, there was no sign of the Batwing anywhere.

The radar operator grabbed the phone and started to press the number for the Commander. He would want to know immediately that the Batwing had gone off the radar. Except this time it didn't seem as if this were a case of stealth technology; something had hit it.

The woman next to him said nothing from behind her long dark bangs, but instead silently stared at the small dots, blips and cursors on the screen. The man spoke quietly into the phone, not wanting to alarm the strikingly beautiful, yet armed to the teeth, woman. After a brief conversation, he set the phone down.

Outside, a flight of _Harrier_ VTOL fighters was taking off, heading towards the Soviet shipyard facilities erected in Gotham Harbor. A spy had discovered that two submarines were docked for repairs and taking down that part of the base would greatly cripple the Soviet's current sea supremacy.

He reached over and turned down the volume for the automated casualty system. It told commanders whenever a unit was lost or a new unit had arrived for battle. Some die-hard warriors found it to be a nice white-noise sort of thing to keep their mind numb. The operator was afraid it would upset the woman. Just before he could get it turned down enough to where they could not hear it, the computerized female voice announced, "Unit lost".

Batgirl did not move as she spoke. "The Batwing is lost."

The man swallowed hard. He was only an enlisted rating; why did he have to do this? He wanted his department leader here, but the man had been drafted for IVF detail. There was a shortage of officers at the moment. The Soviet assaults had been brutal, so brutal that the Commander had been forced to shut down all non-essential facilities to conserve power. Soviet spies in "sneak suits" had sabotaged two power stations. "It was taken down by what appeared to be a Surface-to-Air missile," the operator announced.

In reality, he didn't have a clue. For all he knew, there could have been a Soviet Sea Scorpion directly below the Batwing and its engines had gotten fouled with flak. He had seen something streak towards it, but then it had stopped in mid-air. That just wasn't possible!

"A destroyer was nearby and went to the area to look for survivors," he started.

Batgirl didn't listen to any more. She turned sharply and exited the radar building and stepped into the night. There were flashes of orange, yellow and red on the horizon, but she didn't pay attention. Her world was foggy as she realized, as she felt in her heart of hearts, that the man she loved was most likely dead.

Batman was the best pilot that Batgirl had ever seen. His plane was better equipped than anything the military was sporting these days. A simple missile did not just take down the Batwing. Only death itself would prevent the Batman from completing his mission. 

And she started to consider that her mentor was gone now as well. She had resisted her inner urges, had tried to walk the straight path that he had laid out before her. In her times of difficulty she had relied on Tim to be her anchor, her emotional support. He was gone now.

There was nothing to hold her back.

Batgirl checked her weapons and adjusted her utility belt. There was a knock at her door but she did not bother to respond. Whoever it was, if they decided it was important enough, would enter regardless of whether or not she gave permission. She turned away and looked at the mirror on the wall. For a brief moment she lifted the long hair out of her face to reveal her eyes, swollen red from the last tears she would ever cry. She had made a vow that she would never love again, but she would have revenge. The Soviets were about to pay a heavy price for her sadness.

The door opened and Batgirl dropped the hair back into its normal place and reached down for her modified mask. She put it on and then took a look at her costume, making sure the yellow bat was just at the beginning of her cleavage. Satisfied, she turned to see Tanya standing there. "I heard about Batman and Robin. I'm sorry about your boyfriend."

Batgirl reviewed her words. "What about Batman?"

"He's still alive. Comrade Billy turned out to be Captain Marvel under Yuri's control, as reported by one of our _Harrier_ pilots," the military woman reported. She noted that Batgirl was in full battledress. "He took Batman to Yuri."

"And allowed Robin to die," Batgirl said, finishing the report. "And?"

"Batman is an essential part of Yuri's plan for conquest. He believes that if he can eliminate the entire Justice League he will demoralize all of the rest of the country's super-heroes." Batgirl snorted at the comment and bent over to adjust the straps on her boots. "I agree, he doesn't realize that the heroes have more to worry about than the Batman, but Yuri is a metahuman and he thinks his kind is all people worry about."

Batgirl stood back up. "I'll get him back," she said. She held no illusions about actually rescuing the Caped Crusader, but it gave her a good enough reason to bust into the middle of Yuri's encampment. She started to wonder if she might be able to hook up with the Huntress and Deathstroke. 

"I'm going with you," Tanya said.

Batgirl wanted to tell her no, tell her that what she was going to do was akin to suicide, but she also knew that Tanya would follow her anyway. It would be better if she went along with her; the two of them could do some serious damage to the Soviets together. 

"There is one condition; we've gotten a radio signal from a hero named Katana; she's requested permission to set down here with a Justice League cargo jet. Oracle is with her as well." Batgirl nodded and Tanya continued, getting the impression she was informing the hero of something she already knew. "They claim to have a special cargo that the Batman requested and will only open up the plane for him."

Batgirl shrugged. "Then I guess we need Batman."

"We also have a report that a Justice League craft intercepted a Soviet convoy that had kidnapped a very high level Allied scientist," Tanya continued as Batgirl walked out the door. She fell into step behind the hero, keeping her eyes on the swishing cape. "A very interesting coincidence."

The started down the main stairs to the first floor, Batgirl getting a free pass as soldiers immediately stepped out of her way. Outside the whup-whup-whup of helicopter blades could be heard as several troop transports landed, depositing score after score of Guardian troopers. Batgirl looked outside the window. "Can you fly a helicopter?"

"Miss Oracle, please, I really don't have time for this," the Commander said as he looked outside. Petty Officer Smith had whispered in his ear that Tanya and Batgirl were taking a chopper into the heart of downtown in order to find Batman. He needed him not only to get the women on the cargo jet which had landed at the far edge of the property to open up the plane, but because he felt sort of responsible for him. They had come in and over several days, with massive reinforcements from various bases, had taken Wayne Manor and the estate grounds and transformed it into Fort Gotham. They had invaded his Batcave and now two of his children were dead. "I've got a major battle going on."

"We know, we flew over the ships fighting it out," she replied. She did not know yet that the navy had been defeated, the remaining vessels turning tail and heading south. The Soviets had taken a major butt-kicking as well, but that was no excuse. The Commander had requested several more destroyers, but they had been diverted to the invasion of England. 

Not that it did any good. After sustaining fifteen casualties and the loss of a single power generating plant, the French officer that had replaced the Commander had surrendered London to the Soviets. He had already received orders to return to England as soon as Gotham City was secured.

"Then you can appreciate the gravity of my situation," he said as he glanced at the tactical map. He moved his hand over the built-in track ball and highlighted several missile IFV's. Four _Kirov_ airships were heading towards a set of bunkers on the seaward edge of the property. That was his primary coastal observation post and he could not afford to lose it right now. He needed to know what ships were moving back to the shipyard, which had not yet been attacked. 

"I have superiors that want to know what happened to Einstein. I think it's too much of a coincidence that he's picked up by a Justice League jet and then a similar jet lands here."

"As I said, I will open it for the Batman only," was the stern response. 

The Commander didn't bother to reply and instead turned to the SEAL commander that had showed up with his squad on an amphibious transport. "I had hoped to have you guys go in and blow up a few buildings, give me some room to put some tanks at the edge of the city…"

"But…."

"I've got a cargo jet that I need guarding and that's what you guys do best," the Commander said.

"Actually, we find blowing things up is what we do best," one of the SEAL's said. The others started chuckling, knowing that they really had no choice but to comply with the orders. As the squad moved off with Smith to find out where they were supposed to go, the Commander returned to his battle screen. 

The Soviets had a very strong line of infantry and Tesla troops, but they were lacking in heavy armor except for the battle lab that the Commander knew that Yuri was using as his base of operations. There were six _Apocalypse_ tanks sitting at the only entrance as well as robotic sentry guns and quite a few battle bunkers. 

If Tanya and Batgirl were going to get in there, he needed to draw those tanks out. There was another problem as well; Yuri had ten _Rhino_ main battle tanks in reserve as well and the Commander was down to only three _Harrier_ bombers. What he wouldn't give to have a couple of Korean Black Eagle fighters! They were the top pilots in the world, training night and day in all conditions for any situation. If he had that kind of air power, he could take out the _Rhino_ tanks.

He had seven _Grizzly_ main battle tanks left in his arsenal, with four being built as quickly as the automated plant could manage. He glanced down and shook his head and then saw vulnerability. 

He used his track ball again to issue orders, sending his tanks after a Soviet ore minor that had strayed away from the safety of the defensive line.


	12. Chapter 12

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 12**

"Comrade Wayne, how good of you to join me," a raspy voice said as awareness slowly crept into the Batman's skull. The last thing he remembered was Captain Marvel's fist slamming into his face, just after the Batwing had sunk below the waves of the Atlantic.

He realized he was lying down and he brought himself up to a sitting position. He had been stripped of his cape and cowl; his utility belt had been ransacked and removed of anything useful. He quickly glanced around, realizing he was in a small room that had very little furniture. His bed was a common Soviet issue cot, not very conformable at all. "It wasn't by choice," Batman replied as he rubbed his jaw. He had lost a tooth or two he realized as his tongue probed his mouth.

"I was very sorry to hear about the loss of your young friend, but the war, alas, has caused so much pain to so many," Yuri said as he stood up. He brought Batman a small glass filled with a clear liquid. "Vodka," Yuri told him.

Batman took it and swallowed it down, not worried about it being poisoned or drugged. Yuri was a powerful telepath; he had no need for chemicals to loosen the Batman's mind. "Is Batson the only member of the League still alive?" Batman asked, referring to Captain Marvel's true name of Billy Batson.

Yuri smiled and sipped at his own drink. "Of the Justice League Task Force that assaulted Moscow, yes. Most died immediately, their minds overwhelmed by my powers."

"And your psychic amplifiers," Batman guessed. The amplifiers were a favorite weapon of Yuri clones throughout the world. It would increase their powers and allow them to control whole city populations.

"A warrior must use all of the weapons at his disposal," Yuri replied before crossing across the room to sit at a small table. The Vodka bottle was sitting there was half empty. Batman suppressed the urge to jump up, grab the bottle and smack the Soviet mutant across the head. "It will do no good, Comrade Wayne; I will have control of your mind before you can direct your legs to move towards me."

"I don't like having my mind read, or my friends killed or my country invaded," Batman said. "You're a madman."

Yuri laughed and reached for the bottle of Vodka. "Perhaps I am, Comrade Wayne, but it does not matter. I have won. My goal was to capture the last of the Justice League, to put to rest the idea of the American super-hero. I have done so."

"I'm not dead yet."

"Nor will you die anytime soon, comrade, for I have many other plans." Yuri stood up and brought the bottle over to Batman. "Drink up and enjoy the last moments of your life as you know it."

Batman looked up at Yuri, his eyes focusing on the small tattoo on the Russian's forehead. "You don't realize the mistake you're about to make."

"Ah, but I'm afraid I do. You see, with you and Green Arrow…the Black Canary and Captain Marvel, I will create the Justice League of Yuri." Yuri dropped the bottle and Batman let it fall to the floor and break. "Your resistance is futile and amusing, but it will do you no good."

"It's not me you better be worried about," Batman said, a wicked grin crossing his face. Then his world went dark.

The troop transport landed in a school parking lot, Batgirl and Tanya exiting quickly as it began to rise back into the air. A call had come in to pick up several British snipers that had come in on a transport and there was no time to waste. Batgirl and her companion raced towards the school. A figure stepped out of the shadows but Batgirl's keen eyes picked up on who it was immediately.

"Helena," Batgirl said as she faced the older woman.

The Huntress smiled a feral grin. "Glad to see you've come across to the winning side, Cassie." She paused and the smile faded. "I heard about Tim. I'm sorry. You know I always liked him." The truth was that before the war, when they were all a lot younger and more innocent, Helena Bertinelli had taught high school in Gotham City and had been the teacher of Tim Drake. "I heard that Bruce was captured."

"It's a metahuman named Captain Marvel," Tanya said. She looked around. "Where's Deathstroke?"

"Dead. A _Hornet_ crashed into a building he was in a few hours ago," the Huntress replied. If she felt any remorse or pity over the loss of her partner, she did not show it, but that had been her way since she started being a super-hero. The Huntress had represented the absolutely most conservative aspects of the Gotham "family".

"Then it is just us," Batgirl said.

"Over here!" a distinctly Russian-accented voice called out. The helicopter landing had drawn the attention of several conscripts and Tesla troopers and they poured into the schoolyard.

Tanya was the first to move, drawing her twin .45 caliber automatics and opening fire as she rushed forward. One, two then three conscripts fell, clutching their chests. The Huntress was right behind her, a crossbow held high and taking down a Soviet non-commissioned officer as he tried to direct the fire of his forces.

The three Tesla troopers moved forward slowly, their lightning guns sparking as they prepared to discharge them. Batgirl flew in like a demon wind, all restraint removed from her as she struck the first blow of many for revenge for her beloved Tim. An insulated boot caught the first trooper in the chest and shattered his breastbone. He went down just as the first knife came out her boot and plunged through the silver helmet of the next. 

The last trooper fired, but Batgirl easily avoided the shot by back flipping out of the way. She stopped in front of two conscripts, who were surprised to see the masked woman appear before their eyes. One went down with a throat strike that crushed his voice box while the other received a kick to the groin that was followed with a knife slash that put a thin line across his throat. 

Tanya fired and blew out the side of the skull of the last Tesla trooper even as the Huntress snapped the next of the first one that Batgirl had incapacitated. Both women looked up to see several conscripts surround Batgirl, their AK-47's pointed directly at her. Tanya dropped the clips from her pistols and moved as quickly as she could to reload. She dropped her gaze to her pistol belt, grabbed the magazine for one and slammed it home and then grabbed the other.

She was loaded up when the Huntress put a hand on her shoulder. Batgirl stood there in the center of a group of dead conscripts, all of them still gripping their rifles. She was covered in blood and breathing heavy, her bosom rising and falling as she eyed each and every victim. Tanya had not heard a thing. "My God," she said silently.

Batgirl shook her head, allowing her long hair to fall over her face again and she replaced her knife back in its boot sheathe. Her cape whirled as she slowly approached the other two women. The Huntress held out a handkerchief and pointed out that there was blood running down her chest. "It goes with my broken heart," Batgirl replied.

Their trip through the streets of Gotham was more or less uneventful. There were fires everywhere and the screams of the dying were a constant serenade of despair. They encountered no more Soviet patrols, though Batgirl did dispatch a couple of guard dogs that had gotten free of their pens. 

The air raid by the navy had devastated the city and Batgirl listened as the Huntress talked about how the planes being shot out of the sky had crashed into what few remaining buildings had survived the war until this night. "Soviet and Allied tanks started blasting at each other in parks where kids used to play. I saw several conscripts zero out there rifles on fleeing civilians. Yuri clones were roaming everywhere, making people do unspeakable acts of depravity."

Tanya listened as well, knowing all to well that the Huntress was telling the truth. Tanya had seen such horrors all over the world. San Francisco. Washington D.C. Hartford. Paris. Cairo. It was the same everywhere. 

Someone once said that war was hell. Tanya could not imagine a place worse than this one. 

They stopped on a street that had several burned out buildings, where bricks lay about in the street like confetti after a ticker-tape parade. There were also several bodies, some fresh and some not. Some wore uniforms, Allied and Soviet, others wore nothing but tattered rags.

Some were adults but many more were children.

They could see the forward walls of Yuri's main base in Gotham City. Several automated sentry guns, twin-barreled cannons capable of ripping a man in two in moments, were dotted all along the walls. At the guard shacks stood an entire squad of conscripts and Tanya used her binoculars to examine the unit patches on their uniforms. "Damn," she muttered. "Those aren't conscripted locals or even Soviet-bloc nation forces, those are Russian regulars. Tough bastards."

She scanned the wall line and saw the tips of at least two Tesla coil defensive weapons, giant power rods that shot out lethal bolts of electricity. There were other buildings as well, most of the type you found in typical Soviet field bases.

A patrol of two conscripts and two guard dogs came around a corner of the wall and marched towards the front gate. A few minutes later, another patrol came around the same corner. "They've got the patrols up as well."

"Too bad we can't fly," the Huntress said, trying to figure out what to do. "It isn't like we can go through the front gate." She tapped her boot on the ground. "Hey, if you have some explosives, we could blow through the wall."

Batgirl brushed past them, pulling out two short swords from scabbards that had been hidden beneath her cape. "Where the hell are you going?" the Huntress asked. 

There was no reply and Batgirl stepped over a pile of rubble and hopped across several bodies until she was next to the burned out husk of a Soviet Tesla tank. Two soldiers who had been relieving themselves next to the destroyed vehicle noticed her there too late. Before they could let go of their privates to reach for their AK-47's, Batgirl had severed their heads from their bodies. Spinning the blades, she put them back in their scabbards and gabbed the dropping heads before they could hit the ground.

In the days of the French Revolution, the executioner at the guillotine would often grab the condemned's head after it fell into the basket. If they were quick enough, they could hold it up to the crowd while it was still alive, wordlessly making protests to its fate. One of the heads that Batgirl cradled was moving its lips. It was a young face, but it had the eyes of a veteran. It seemed to ask why, but Batgirl knew in her heart of hearts that as the Russian's vision slowly faded to black, he knew exactly why he had to die.

Tanya and the Huntress moved quickly to scramble over the rubble and got to Batgirl just as she tossed the heads at the guards. She knew better than to get into range of the sentry guns and so the throw was not good enough to strike anyone. Instead the heads hit the cold pavement with twin thunks that drew the attention of a smoking soldier. 

He pointed at the heads and screamed out something in Russian and soon the entire squad was moving towards the three female figures. Batgirl did not wait for a quick plan, but instead smiled and stepped out at the head of the group. None of the soldiers fired their weapons, seeing the costumes. Batgirl had expected this since Yuri seemed to have a desire to capture as many super-heroes as he could. 

The soldiers threw down their rifles and pulled out their bayonets. Two burly ones immediately went for Batgirl. She kicked out, striking the hand of one soldier so hard that it snapped back and he impaled himself on his own weapon. Following through with the kick, she planted her foot down, and put a karate chop to the other's throat. He was down just as the next conscript tried to slash with his knife. Batgirl caught his arm, wrenched it up until the elbow snapped and then brought a leg up to smash his face with a kick.

Soon it became almost comical the way Batgirl dispatched each challenger with one or two strikes, killing some, wounding others. The Huntress, not one to stand by and let someone else do the work, took a shot at a Tesla trooper inside the gate next to one of the Tesla coil. The missile from her crossbow punctured his reinforced hood and buried itself deep into his eye. He went down, falling into the Tesla coil field and was instantly incinerated.

Tanya was firing left and right, trying her best to take out the quickly approaching guard dogs that came from both corners. Their handlers were following close behind, their guns firing until they saw the swish of Batgirl's cape. One of the sentries realized what was going on and got onto his radio to inform the chief of security. He got his warning out just before a .45 caliber bullet pierced his skull.

Batgirl took down the last trooper, a soldier carrying one of the anti-aircraft flak cannons, and came up with both blades whirling. She sensed something had changed in the air and Tanya made mention that there should have been a lot more troops coming at them. "And where is the damn alarm? Soviets love alarms."

An arrow pierced her shoulder, spinning her around and throwing her flat on her face. Batgirl looked up to see the familiar figure of Green Arrow standing on the wall. Another arrow was already notched and being fired. Batgirl cartwheeled out of the way, just missing being skewered. Two more arrows followed her on her spinning trip to cover behind the remains of an Allied Prism tank. 

The Huntress loaded her crossbow and took a bead on the Emerald Archer. Years before she had admired the man, especially for his willingness to stick by his political views no matter how stupid everyone else thought they were. Just as he finger went for the trigger when a sonic blast caught her in the back and lifted her through the air. She crashed into a broken wall even as the Black Canary finished her Canary Cry. Clearing her throat, the former hero prepared for a final, lethal blow when her stomach exploded as the pointed tip of a sword protruded through it.

"I'm sorry," Batgirl said, truly agonizing over the fact she had just killed someone who had once been her friend and a comrade. But that was a long time ago and Dinah Lance, the woman who was Black Canary, was long gone, replaced by the unstoppable will of Yuri.

If Green Arrow was troubled by the loss of his lover and confidant, he didn't show it, but instead loaded up an explosive tip arrow to fire at Batgirl. The Dark Knight Damsel pulled out her sword and started running for more cover. The Prism tank was thinly armored and would not protect her from the C-4 charge that Green Arrow used in the specialized arrow.

She had no choice but to run back towards where the group of women had come from. Any other course would but her closer to Green Arrow. As it happened, she did not have to worry because Tanya, using her one good arm, shot the possessed archer in the head. His arrow went high and sailed behind him and there was an explosion as it struck a Tesla power generator. It was obvious that it was a critical hit because several lights went out in the base.

Batgirl changed her course and ran towards the Huntress, but stopped short. The position of her neck told the story and the young warrior turned to go help Tanya. "Look out!" Tanya called out.

Batgirl ducked just in time to avoid having her skull bashed in by a projectile that made a very familiar sound as it cut through the air. She tucked and rolled, coming up in a crouch, her swords crossed in front of her. 

Batman stepped out of the shadows, in costume except for his cape and cowl. The eyes of Bruce Wayne were glazed over, glassy like he was sleep walking. His movements told another story, though. He moved with a determination that Batgirl had not seen since before the war. In his hand he held the Batarang that had almost ended her life.

He looked at her and smiled. It was a feral grin, devoid of any compassion. It was a fight to the death. Batgirl did not want to fight Batman. She wanted Yuri and Captain Marvel; they had killed her beloved Tim.

But if she had to, she would not hesitate she told herself. 

Tanya groaned and rolled over, starting to drag herself away from the battle about to commence. Several Soviet Tesla troopers were assembling at the front gate, their coil weapons sparking as they stood and watched. Batman took a step towards her and Batgirl leapt, a scream of rage and fury escaping from her throat.


	13. Chapter 13

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 13**

Batgirl and Batman clashed like ancient Titans of old. The flurry of blows, kicks, slaps and punches were so fast and so furious that the Soviet observers could only stand in mute awe. Even with his mind occupied by the thoughts of Yuri, Batman was able to match Batgirl blow for blow. She realized she was slowing and tired because, she admitted only to herself, she was better than the Batman.

When the Batman managed a solid backhand slap to Batgirl's face, several of the conscripts and Tesla troopers raised a cheer and laughed. Someone moved into one of the guard shacks and turned on a spotlight while two _Apocalypse_ tanks rolled up from inside the base and trained their own lights, normally used for spotting aircraft at night, onto the two combatants.

Unfortunately for the Soviets, their lights served as a perfect target for the British snipers that the Commander had dropped off within Gotham City. Britain was the only country to have a full-blown sniper training school, the United States having lost all of theirs within the first six months of the war. The British soldiers, known for being polite and efficient, opened up on the troops as they stood there. One after another fell, a single bullet ripping through their skulls.

Suddenly there was no longer a cheering crowd as Batgirl got up and took one sword and slashed Batman's thigh open. Chaos ensued as Soviets ran around, trying to avoid getting shot and falling down in the street. The tanks fired up their noisy diesel engines and moved through the gate and into the street. The battle between the two heroes was forgotten as even more vehicles started to pour out of the base.

"Attention, attention," a voice sang out in Russian over the intercom. "An Allied strike force is approaching, several _Mammoth_ tanks under Allied control are approaching from the south!"

The _Mammoth_ was a Soviet tank from the first war, the largest tank ever created. It was a massive construct, twice as large as the _Apocalypse_ tank and nearly as powerful. They had been officially retired from Soviet service after the ending of hostilities. 

The Commander, when he had sent his forces to attack the Soviet ore miners, had come across a large complex that had once been used by the local National Guard. It was not listed or marked on any of the maps of the area and he had sent Petty Officer Smith on his own to check it out. Inside he had found what had actually been an old Soviet staging base from the first war.

The base had contained not only the _Mammoth_ tanks, but also several V-2 Rocket Launcher trucks and even now they were moving into a position to attack the base. Soviet patrols discovered the trucks moving up and at first thought that they were their own V-3 trucks. Some even went as far as to help guide them into parking spots.

Navy SEALs, a new group that had come in via the water, poured over the outer perimeter and started taking down the enemy soldiers, but then ran into trouble when they came upon a group of Yuri clones returning from an excursion into the populated areas. 

None of that mattered to Batgirl, who was busy avoiding getting her face stepped on by Batman's massive booted foot. "You don't want to do this, Bruce," she said through gritted teeth, trying to find an opening. She was getting very tired and the slightest mistake would get her killed.

"Yuri's wish is my command," Batman replied in a monotone voice. He pulled out a batarang and threw it down, trying to split her skull. She replied by taking a sword and smacking him hard in the thigh with the flat of the blade.

"I thought you had more will than that," she said as she scrambled up. He reached out and grabbed her cape and yanked her back down onto her butt. A brick did more damage than she cared to let on and she rolled back to use her feet to plant a double-footed kick to the Batman's chest. He fell back onto his own pile of bricks as she got back up.

Three _Mammoth _tanks broke through a nearby building and opened fire on the two Soviet tanks sitting there. Armor-piercing shells clanged against the thick skin of the vehicles and Batgirl rolled to avoid several hot slivers of metal that had been blasted away.  

The _Apocalypse _tanks turned their turrets and fired back in return, their incendiary shells setting one of the Allied tanks ablaze. The noise was deafening and Batgirl wondered how it was that not all combat veterans were hard of hearing. So amazed by the wanton destruction the metal monsters were putting out that she almost did not hear the Batman approach. He was favoring his leg where she had cut him and it was obvious that the fall he had just taken did not do him any good either. 

She rolled away and popped up, throwing a line up into the air and catching it on a flagpole sticking out of a nearby building. She hauled herself up just before a Soviet guard dog would have made a meal of her. The Batman used a batarang to dispatch the animal and then clambered up the rope after his protégé.

Below them all hell had broken loose as Allied soldiers poured over barricade. Behind them came the Chrono Miners that were used to extract raw materials from the soil. Though they did not have any weapons to wield against the Soviets, the drivers of Chrono Miners were fond of running over hapless troops, which is exactly what the did. A Soviet officer, noticing that several troops with jet packs were skirting the edge of the anti-aircraft perimeter, ordered a squad of flak troopers to pursue.

The Chrono Miners piled over them, reducing them to a pasty substance and them moved to bust down the gates to the Soviet compound. Two Prism tanks, firing their deadly blue beams of destructive energy came in on their tail, eliminating any conscript that dared to pop their head up. A Crazy Ivan bomber, who did not get far enough away from the blast, took one out. Once he exploded, there was a clear path inside to the base.

Soviet engineers were racing to repair the damaged Tesla generators, but were being picked off by the snipers in a hail of death. On the other side, Allied engineers were making for the same type of buildings, hoping to set charges that would eliminate the buildings or, which would be even better, to override the central processing unit of the buildings and put them under Allied control. Engineers were susceptible to enemy sappers, machine gun nests hidden throughout the rubble and the conscripts made short work of the unarmed men. 

In his command IFV, the Commander raced to the front line. While Smith, tired from running here, running there and reporting on it all, wanted to just lay down in a bunk and sleep for a week, he was not about to let his commanding officer go out alone. "Do you think Wayne knew about that base being so near his property?"

The Commander checked his gun sight and then coughed. "Maybe. Records indicate that his grandfather served as a spy for the government during the first Soviet invasion. I can't believe that it wasn't on any lists or in any files. Three tanks and associated weapons? It's incredible."

"Uh-huh," Smith replied, taking a hard turn. The highway leading into Gotham City had seen some recent hard fighting. The tanks had successfully taken out the Soviet Ore Miners, but the price had been heavy. None of the Allied tanks survived, though many of the tank crews were even now mustering at Wayne Manor to be issued weapons for an infantry assault. 

The _Mammoth_ tanks had been just what the Commander needed to take out the heavy weapons that Yuri had in his command base and he was going to see to it that Smith got a promotion to Chief Petty Officer. "What's the status, sir?"

The Commander checked his portable screen and saw it was too early to tell. The Soviets simply had too many men and the satellite feed had picked up a cloning chamber in the back section of the base. That meant they could produce a new conscript, Tesla trooper or whatever every fifteen minutes. Cloning technology had been banned in the United States a decade before the war started; though certain government agencies were known to employ it. The Soviets had never had such reservations.

The vehicle situation was better. For some reason, the Soviets seemed to be lacking in mechanized forces. There should have been more tanks, trucks and other such equipment but he couldn't find any. It was puzzling. "He couldn't be pulling out could he?"

"Damn it, sir, if he's pulling his forces back…"

The Commander was one step ahead of his bodyguard. He typed in a command and a small window appeared on his monitor. The angelic face of the Lieutenant appeared. "Good afternoon, sir; reports indicate you're in the thick of it."

"You can say that again," the Commander said with a smile. "Lieutenant, can you run a scan for WMD?" he asked. The satellite could normally detect weapons of mass destruction unless some sort of stealth field was activated. The Soviets were not known to employ very much stealth technology, but it was possible they were "borrowing" some.

"Nothing I can pick up, but it is possible it isn't on-line yet," the Lieutenant answered. "He could be waiting, bring it up at the last minute."

The IFV took a hard left and the Commander had to take the time out to man the machine gun. A Desolator was blocking the road. Trained in Iraq to use special weapons that fired radioactive charges, they were known for being the ones responsible for the Soviet's "scorched earth" policy. He squeezed the trigger and walked the fire up to the Desolator. A tracer round exploded in the Iraqi's chest and he burst into flames, screaming and waving his arms as the IFV roared by him. 

"Nuclear missile detected," the Lieutenant said. At the north end of Gotham. It just came up. Estimated time to launch is one hour."

"Damn it! He's got Batman and he's going to nuke the whole city!"

"Bastard!" Smith said, flooring the gas pedal. "He knows he's lost and so he's picking up his toys and leaving!"

The Commander didn't reply but instead ordered the Lieutenant to patch the information through to the Justice League jet sitting on the Wayne Estate. "They might be able to get there ahead of us and take down that missile," he said. "I've got one _Harrier_ left and my jet troopers are busy getting shot out of the sky over Yuri's base!"

Batgirl had managed to get three buildings ahead of Batman, his wounded leg slowing him down as they skirted the rooftops. She was now at the rear of the base where she saw three hovercrafts from the Soviet navy loading troops and equipment. A few hundred feet away, several conscripts were busy filling V-2 rocket launcher with hot lead, destroying the hydraulic lifts and exploding the electronics needed to ignite the missiles. 

She saw the battle lab that had to be Yuri's headquarters and she wondered if Captain Marvel was in there. Her answer came as the red and gold costumed former hero burst through the top of the lab. She went for her batarang but was disappointed to see that he was going after the _Mammoth_ tanks at the front of the base. "Damn," she whispered. 

The sound of boot on rooftop caused her to jump to the side, narrowly missing getting a batarang in the back. She turned in mid-air and tossed her own weapon, but Batman caught it and tossed it to the side. "Yuri's will shall be yours," he said. Batgirl suppressed as shiver as she danced back and assumed a fighting stance. "There is no escape."

Batgirl said nothing. It was time to speak the way her father had taught her. As a child, she was shown to express herself through actions, never words. Her father had been one of the world's foremost assassins and he trained her to be a killer from the first day she could walk. 

As a teenager, the Batman and his extended family had demonstrated to her the beauty of words and the fulfillment of not killing. Then the war came and the life she could have led was left behind. For two years now she had tried to live up to his example, the Batman, but she was living a lie. This war was where she thrived; she was an instrument for killing and now she had a reason for doing it.

She did not want to kill the Batman, but she was fully aware that he could kill her no problem. "Join Yuri and know peace," Batman said as he limped up.

"Commander, this is Sniper Two," a distinctly English accent said. The Commander was proud to have the snipers, especially given the fact that most of them wanted to get back to England. After surrendering London, the French commander had ordered troops all the way to the Scottish line to lay down their arms. The Scots, however, had refused to listen to the "sissy French bastard" and were now forming a defensive line.

"Go ahead, Two," the Commander replied. The IFV was now in Gotham City proper, racing over broken streets and bursting through the burned out hulks of buildings.

"It appears the Batman bloke has been compromised," came the report. "He's fighting the little bat lass and she's doing her best not to kill him."

The Commander paused. If Yuri had compromised Batman, he could not be allowed to live. He was a weapon that could really do some harm against the Allies. He had no choice. "Do you have a target?"

"He's in my crosshairs."

"Take him."

"One shot, one kill, aye."

The Kevlar lining of Batman's cowl slowed the high-velocity bullet, but the round had been designed to go through body armor. There was a spurt of blood and the Batman shuddered before going down. Batgirl had him in her arms before he hit the rooftop. 

She quickly pulled off the cowl to reveal glassy eyes and blood-soaked hair. "It's best this way," he whispered in a far away voice. The blood was starting to pool around them and he managed to smile slightly. Yuri's hold on him was lifted. As he paled and then sagged, Batgirl could not help but catch her breath. 

She slowly laid him down and was surprised to find that she was not angry. She understood why he had been killed and it seemed he had known as well. And he had approved, she noted. Better to be dead then a slave she thought to herself as her eyes watered. She had lost everyone she loved in one day.

"My God, is that him?" Tanya said as she clambered up the fire escape. Her shoulder still had a green shaft sticking out of it and her tank top was red with blood. She looked pale as well. 

"I have to get Yuri," Batgirl said, remembering that she now had another reason for revenge. 

Tanya nodded and said she was calling for an airlift out. "It will be here in a half hour. Be here," she said as she dropped down on her butt. 

Batgirl nodded but did not really expect to be back. Even if she were able to kill Yuri, there was still Captain Marvel. The chances were he wasn't just under telepathic control, but he most likely had been surgically altered to be more compliant.

She attached a line to a protruding pipe and dropped over the side of the building.

Inside the compound, it was a madhouse. Troops were scrambling to get away from snipers and the Prism tanks that were destroying all of the Tesla generators and coils, leaving the other prefabricated buildings for possible capture. One conscript got too close to Batgirl and she kicked him in the stomach. With a quick move, she turned his head completely around before moving towards the battle lab.

The hovercrafts were moving out, but Batgirl could see more moving in under the watchful eye of several flying saucers. It was a full-scale evacuation and she couldn't imagine why. Though this base was now lost, there were still at least two other bases within Gotham County for the Soviets to move to. 

A shadow seemed to fall over her and she looked up to see the crimson bulk of a mangled _Mammoth_ tank flying overhead. It sailed in an arc and crashed into a building three blocks away. That wasn't a very good sign and she picked up her pace. 

A Crazy Ivan, missing his bombs, but armed with a spoon and a dead squirrel hopped out at her from behind a stack of missile reloads. "Here!" he cried out, a wild look in his eyes as he pushed out the squirrel. "I have a present for you!"

Batgirl dropped and spun, using a foot-sweep to knock the Russian off of his feet. "Squirrels like nuts," she said as she put her boot down hard into his groin. 

She smiled behind her mask and turned to make the final ten feet to the battle lab door when it burst open. Two large men in overcoats and armed with nasty looking submachine guns stepped out. Batgirl knew that had to be Boris agents, the Soviet answer to the Allied Tanya program. Behind them was the slightly hunched form of Yuri. "Batgirl, so nice of you to join us."

The Boris agents aimed at her but fell when she threw her short swords, hitting both in the chest. They went down hard, one of them whimpering like a child. "You killed my mentor, my family and the man I loved," she said. She pushed back the hair out of her face so that Yuri could see her rage.

"Amazing, your anger is so great I cannot penetrate it," Yuri said with a smile. He showed no fear at all and that unnerved Batgirl slightly. Then she remembered Captain Marvel. She looked around but did not see him. "And, your boyfriend is not dead, he has joined with us," Yuri announced as a new figure emerged from the lab.

Batgirl stifled a gasp as she watched Robin, in a torn costume, step into the light. "Must serve Yuri," he said and she felt her heart break into a million pieces.


	14. Chapter 14

Batman/Command & Conquer: Red Gotham

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Batman and related characters and situations are ©2003 by DC Comics Inc./Yuri and related characters and situations are ©2003 by Westwood Games. All are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. All original content is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**CHAPTER 14**

There were no words to describe the pain in the heart of Batgirl as she watched her former lover slowly comes towards her with murder in his eyes. Too many friends were dead, to many innocents taken from the world before their time. The Atom. Green Arrow. Black Canary. Huntress. Batman.

Yuri laughed and stepped out of the doorway, slowly making his way to the right. Batgirl could not get to him without confronting Robin. "You must excuse me, Batgirl, but I am afraid I have an appointment with destiny. With the last vestiges of the American Justice League destroyed, President Luthor has nothing to stop me!" His laughter trailed behind him as he took off in a run.

Robin leapt at Batgirl, his hands spread wide in the hopes of wrapping them around her neck. She easily dodged but did not strike at his exposed back as he passed her. He stopped, snarled and turned around and made the same attack again. His movements were not fluid like the man she knew and she wondered how badly he had been hurt when the Batwing had gone down.

Again she dodged and held off and again he whipped around and tried again. This time she kicked him in the knee, a simple strike he should have been able to block easily, but her foot connected and there was a resounding crack. As he fell she sensed someone coming up behind her and she saw it was the Crazy Ivan she had disabled earlier. This time two hand grenades replaced the spoon and squirrel. "Come here!" he ordered.

Batgirl had no time to do anything except back flip and catch the Russian on the chin with her boot tip. She landed on her hands and sprung away as the two grenades fell and rolled towards her. She should have landed next to Robin, but he had been crawling towards her to get another shot at her and so he encountered one of the grenades as it exploded. His body absorbed the blast, being torn to many pieces that scattered all over the immediate area. Batgirl cried out loud, a moan of pure pain and desperation that was drowned out by the second grenade exploding.

The Commander and Smith sped through the streets of Gotham, passing stray troops from both sides as they tried to get north where the nuclear missile solo was preparing to launch. As they turned a corner, the Lieutenant popped up on the command screen. "Commander, we have problems. Satellite recon indicates three Libyan demolition trucks heading for the manor!"

"Damn it!" the Commander said. He tried to send orders to his troops to get out of the way and to have the last _Harrier_ drop some laser-guided bombs on one of them. The Libyans were known to employ suicide bombers in specially designed trucks that carried small tactical nukes. Three trucks would take out the entire manor complex. His signal was being jammed, he found out and all he could do was watch.

The satellite zoomed in on the trucks as the ran the forward guard points, knocking soldiers aside and even taking out an Allied perimeter dog that made a brave attempt to stop them. One of the remaining IFV's, a missile-carrier, pulled up and started firing at the trucks. The weapons for that vehicle, however, were designed mostly for anti-aircraft operations, which meant the small projectiles were meant to distribute small packets of metal into the intakes of airplanes. The small warheads barely dented the heavily armored Libyan trucks.

When the trucks made it to within fifty feet of Wayne Manor, they split up. The IFV continued to assault the last truck, which moved towards a set of power generation plants. Ten seconds later, all three vehicles exploded and the entire base and Wayne Manor disappeared under three green mushroom clouds. The satellite feed cut out then, as the radar station could no longer function after being so badly damaged.

"We can't let that happen to Gotham City," the Commander told the Lieutenant. He leaned down and stuck his head into the main compartment of the IFV. "Step on it, Petty Officer," he called out.

"I'm giving her all she's got, Commander," Smith replied. "You better be putting together the C-4 charges we're going to use to blow up the silo."

"No time to take out the silo; we'll have to take down the control room instead," he replied. Smith gulped because the control room was normally very well guarded, much more than the heavily reinforced silo itself. The normal procedure for taking out a Soviet missile silo was to attack it from the air, but there was no time for that today.

"Yes, sir," Smith said as he gunned the engine just a little more.

Batgirl rolled over onto her back and looked up to see the smiling and bearded face of Captain Marvel. "What a pretty little thing I have found," he said in a fake Russian accent. 

The Dark Knight Damsel kicked out and it felt like she had kit pure steel. The explosion of pain raced up her leg and into her hip and she cried out. She had not expected him to be so strong. He said nothing else but reached down and grabbed a handful of her long dark hair. She tried and upper strike to snap his arm and was rewarded with twice the pain that was in her leg.

Dragged to kneeling position, she understood that the end was near. She could not fight the World's Mightiest Mortal and he seemed to sense her resignation. He pulled his other hand back, making a killing fist and was ready to end her suffering when a shadow passed overhead. He looked up to see the belly of a Justice League cargo jet, hovering thanks to several vertical jets along the hull. A small hatch opened in the bottom and Katana jumped out.

She landed on top of Captain Marvel and he fell over, surprised that anyone would be foolish enough to strike him in such a manner. Batgirl fell back even as Katana rolled and came up, her long blade held in front of her. Captain Marvel was up as well and he smiled wide. "Two little things to crush," he said from behind perfect teeth.

Katana laughed, turned and started to run. Captain Marvel, eager for a chase, half-heartedly chased after her, not using any of his super powers. Katana ran straight towards a group of engineers that had just finished putting a Tesla generator back on line. Two quick moves of her blade took two of them down, the rest scattered screaming. One didn't get very far, taken down by a British sniper. Captain Marvel jogged up and stopped a few feet away from Katana.

She could feel the electric charge in the air as the generator came on line and she back up slowly. Her adversary took a single step forward and then pulled the speed of Mercury to himself. She had expected it and was able to just get out of the way as he blew past her and crashed into the generator.

Anyone who had access to the Justice League secret files knew that Billy Batson was able to transform into Captain Marvel whenever he spoke the word "Shazam". The transformation resulted from Billy's body being struck by a bolt of magic lightning. Normal lightning could not cause the change, but there was a theory, one put forth by the Batman, that exposure to sufficient electrical energy could temporarily weaken his powers. The Tesla generator, at full capacity, was a possible solution.

Katana jumped into the wrecked shell of the building and found Captain Marvel lying on the floor, small little lightning bolts racing over his body. He pushed up and shook his head and Katana drove her blade, a special weapon made especially for her by Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, before he died, into his back. It was supposed to be sharp enough to cut even Superman, but Katana had doubted that. It was strong enough to pierce Captain Marvel's torso and she grunted as she forced it deep enough so that it entered the concrete below him.

He screamed. "Shazam!" he called out, calling the magic lightning to him in the vain hope it would strike her or somehow rescue him. Katana jumped away even as he started to speak and hurried out the hole she had come through. The lightning bolt crashed through the top of the generator building and struck the sword sticking out of Captain Marvel's back.

The explosion tossed Katana twenty feet into the air and only by sheer luck did she land in a garbage heap that cushioned her fall. There was a snap as she landed and she knew her arm was broken, but she didn't dare cry out. Any Soviet stragglers that had not boarded one of the transports she had see from the air probably had orders to kill anyone without vodka on their breath.

After a few moments, when the Tesla generator had finished falling in on itself, she slowly raised her head up to see Batgirl struggling to keep her balance as she came towards her. It was obvious that she was completely out of it and Katana grunted and stood up as quickly as she could. She looked at the flaming wreckage of Captain Marvel's tomb and spit. It had cost her a good sword, a damn fine blade that had been her companion for many years, but she was assured it had died a glorious and honorable death by taking down so powerful an enemy.

There would be time to mourn her lost blade later. She looked around and was surprised to see hardly any more activity, but then she noted all of the destruction. What had been an active base forty-five minutes before was now nothing more than flaming ruins and piles of dead bodies. She was a warrior, a warrior trained in the way of _bushido_ and she understood the necessity of combat. But all of this was nothing but pure slaughter. There was no honor here and she felt old and tired.

Batgirl shuffled up to her. "Thank you," she said, nearly falling over. She was exhausted. "We must get out of here…find Yuri…"

Katana shook her head and looked up at the hovering Justice League plane. She waved her good arm in the air and a basket was lowered from the cargo hold. "We've intercepted some transmissions from the local Allied commander. Yuri is planning on detonating a nuclear device on top of Gotham City." The basket landed next to them and the two heroes climbed into it moments before it started to rise up. "We've been asked to try and get there, do something to prevent the missile from launching."

Batgirl said nothing, but instead cast her dark eyes towards the steaming pile of goo that had been her boyfriend. Then she turned her head to the rooftop where the body of the Batman lay, growing cold. She saw Tanya there, waving at her. "Wait, we have to pick her up," Batgirl said before fainting.

A few minutes later she was awakened by Oracle who had grabbed some smelling salts from the medical kit. Batgirl turned her head and saw six SEAL's applying first aid to Katana and Tanya. "We picked up the boys before we evacuated Wayne Manor," Oracle explained.

From behind the redhead a voice with a distinctive German accent began shouting. "Mein Gott! We must flee! The nuclear weapon!"

Oracle rolled her eyes. "Dr. Einstein, we will get going as soon as our pilot is ready to go," she said. She leaned down and whispered into Batgirl's ear. "I swear that man is getting on my nerves."

"Batman…" Batgirl started to say.

Oracle's face darkened. "We know. The Commander gave the order to take him down. Batman was too important to allow to go over to the other side. Besides, if we can get Dr. Einstein's time machine working, we can stop all of this from happening!"

Batgirl's puzzled look told Oracle that the younger woman did not completely understand. Oracle patted her head. "Rest. Hopefully, we won't need you anymore."

The Commander checked his ammo and realized that they were never going to get to the missile controls they needed to take out. They had run afoul of four _Apocalypse_ tanks that had never shown up on the radar. It had been a perfect trap and had he not been so upset about the sudden turn of events, he never would have been caught in so simple a trap.

"Our front armor is shredded, sir," Smith called out as another near hit blasted them with debris. The massive tanks were toying with them, they both knew. "We have to pull out," he cried in desperation.

The Commander did not want to retreat, but he had no choice. Gotham was lost unless there was a last minute miracle. "Okay, Smith, let's get out of here," the Commander said with resignation. There was an explosion from the front of the vehicle and his friend and bodyguard gave a final scream. Smoke and the smell of charred flesh floated into the turret and the Commander had no choice but to pop the hatch. 

He struggled to clamber out and he could see through the black smoke the missile silo that was in the distance. Alarms were going off in the immediate area, warning personnel that the missile was about to launch. "Damn it," the Commander whispered as three conscripts started clambering over the broken hull of the IFV. The Commander pulled out his service pistol and fired, taking two of them down. The last one was quick on the draw and fired a burst with his AK-47. The Commander's body was riddled with bullets and fell back, his eyes staring into the sky as Yuri's missile lifted off.

"We have a missile launch!" one of the SEALs cried out from the radar station. Katana cursed and moved to the pilot's seat and deactivated the autopilot. 

"We have to get away from the blast zone or we'll be cooked!" she called out. In the back of the spacious plane, Dr. Einstein and Oracle, rolling around in her wheelchair, were trying to shutdown the time machine that the German scientist had been running through a warm-up cycle. 

"Vee must hurry!" Einstein cried.

"We are" Oracle snapped back. It had been fairly easy to convince him to help them reverse his actions of the past, but it was more difficult to get him to be quiet. Einstein had expressed true sorrow that his rash decision to save six million fellow Jews had resulted in two world wars that had killed nearly one billion.

The missile exploded a hundred feet above the Gotham Municipal Building. The blast wave radiated out instantly, the radiation following close behind. Then came the heat. In less than fifteen seconds, the city that the Batman had fought so hard to save, the city he essentially had died for, was no more. What man had created, Yuri had taken away with a single weapon, a weapon that had been created through the science of a man who had gone through time to prevent war.

The Justice League jet under the command of Katana bucked and bounced as the air blast struck it and tossed it around like a toy. In the back, the SEALs, Oracle, Batgirl, Tanya and Dr. Einstein cried out and moaned as they were thrown against the bulkheads and tied down crates. 

Oracle fell out her chair and watched as it tumbled across the cargo area and smash into the small Tesla generator used to power the time machine. There was a spark and then a hum and the next thing they knew, the world was twisting and turning before their eyes. 

Katana pulled and pushed on the controls, trying to keep the jet on a path towards a horizon that kept getting farther and farther away. 

When everything became normal again, Katana was surprised to be looking out into a blue sky. In the back, she heard several of the passengers grumbling, some moaning and at least two were deathly silent. She was about to activate the autopilot when she noted that they were flying over a prairie that had signs of recent battle damage. 

Following the destruction, she started to see wreckage of tanks and other armored vehicles, all burned so badly that she could not identify which side they belonged to. She lowered her speed and dropped down, using a set of tracks from what seemed to be a hundred vehicles to guide her. Tanya hopped into the co-pilot's chair, her arm in a sling. "Two of the SEAL's are dead, their necks were broken," she said as she looked down at the ground.

"Sorry, but I'm not used to flying through nuclear blasts," Katana replied.

"What are you doing?" Tanya asked. "How far from Gotham are we?"

"I can't get a proper GPS fix. The computer keeps requesting information, but the response it gets doesn't make sense. It keeps asking for an EVA identification number," Katana explained as she nodded towards the center console.

"I don't have one."

"Neither do I, but that doesn't matter. This jet runs off of a Justice League satellite, not a military one, but the signal indicates that it is part of some network belonging to the Global Defense Initiative."

Tanya shrugged and looked down to see several dune buggies streaking across the prairie, displaying flags with flat cornered triangles with a scorpion's tail in the center. "Where the hell are we?" she asked and Katana had no answer as they flew over a battle composed of thousands of troops and vehicles.

This isn't the end! Watch for the next installment of the DC Comics/Westwood crossover, "Birds of Prey/Command & Conquer: Tiberian Gotham" coming in a few short months!


End file.
